Alex Rodriguez, who has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, is currently appealing his suspension from Major League Baseball. The scandal has hit close to home for some at the University of Miami, where the school’s baseball stadium bears A-Rod’s name.
Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez is from Miami. In 2003, Rodriguez pledged $3.9 million dollars to renovate a baseball stadium at UM. The stadium was renamed in his honor.UM graduate Markeem Middleton thinks the school will change the stadium’s name to protect its own image.
" It's really a shame", Middleton said. "It's kind of dirty money in a sense."
But UM senior Shawn Ahern thinks it would be unfair to rename the stadium paid for by Rodriguez’s generosity.
"The reason why it’s named after him is his donation and not his athletic abilities, however he may have attained them", Ahern argued.
It would not be the first time UM removed a disgraced name from its campus. Former football booster Nevin Shapiro had his name removed from a student lounge. He is currently in prison for operating a Ponzi scheme.
Rae Goldsmith of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education is an expert on collegiate philanthropy. She says no two situations are alike.
"The relationship of the name to the purpose of the gift is also a consideration", said Goldsmith. "For example, the Enron chair of business ethics is going to send a different kind of message than the Enron chair of the arts."
UM has declined to comment on whether the stadium will continue to bear Rodriguez’s name.