Iowa has renamed the playing surface at Kinnick Stadium in honor of a trailblazing all-American football player.
Following approval by the Iowa Board of Regents on Wednesday during a meeting in Cedar Falls, what will be known as Duke Slater Field at Kinnick Stadium will honor the legacy of the first Black student-athlete in Hawkeye history to earn all-American honors.
“We are proud and honored to name the Kinnick Stadium playing field as Duke Slater Field,’’ Iowa director of athletics Gary Barta said in a statement.
“Much has been written about Duke’s incredible history and the boundaries he broke. With the addition of the relief statue as part of the north end zone project and his recent induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, this was a proper capstone to honor a remarkable Hawkeye.’’
The university announced that permanent recognition of Duke Slater Field will be installed on the playing surface at Kinnick Stadium later this summer.
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Recognition of Slater and former Hawkeye Alex Karras, both inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this year as part of its delayed 2020 Centennial Class, is planned for Oct. 9 during a Hawkeye football home game against Penn State.
Iowa Regents approved a university request naming the field after Slater unanimously, a move made 100 years after Slater completed his career with the Hawkeyes.
The decision comes nearly 40 years after the university first turned down a proposal by then university president Willard “Sandy’’ Boyd to name what was then known as Iowa Stadium to honor both Slater and Nile Kinnick, the Hawkeyes’ lone Heisman Trophy recipient.
A committee rejected the idea of shared name on the stadium, ultimately settling on a compromise that named the stadium after Kinnick and a nearby dormitory after Slater.
A 6-foot-2, 210-pound tackle who was born in Normal, Ill., and learned to play football as a youth in Clinton where he was an all-state tackle for Clinton High School, Slater competed for Iowa from 1918-21.
He earned all-Big Ten recognition three times and as a senior became the first Black student-athlete from Iowa to earn all-American honors.
Slater, who also competed in track at Iowa, helped the Hawkeyes to a 7-0 Big Ten record in 1921, winning the conference championship and finishing with an undefeated overall record which included a 10-7 victory over Notre Dame that ended a 20-game Irish win streak.
He went on to become the first Black player inducted into the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame, an honor he received in 1951.
He was also named to the Iowa Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1989, the Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and named in 1989 as a member of Iowa’s all-time football team as part of a 100-year celebration of Iowa football.
Slater broke boundaries beyond the Iowa campus.
He signed a professional contract in 1922, the start of a 10-year career as a two-way tackle in the NFL.