I read with interest the article, "Student coalition seeks to get 'Byrd' name off of UM's football stadium" (April 10). Actually, there is another interesting part to the history of Byrd Stadium at the University of Maryland College Park.
In the early 1950s, the University of Maryland needed a new library. When Phi Beta Kappa reassessed Maryland's application to create a chapter at College Park, it cited the lack of a first-class library as the reason not to create a chapter there.
President Harry Byrd came to the state legislature and asked for funding for a new football stadium and a new library. The legislature told Mr. Byrd they could not fund both and asked him to choose. He chose the football stadium over the library and thus the stadium was named after him.
Ten years later, McKeldin Library was built at College Park, and the University of Maryland finally got a Phi Beta Kappa chapter.
Dr. Leon Reinstein, Baltimore
The writer is a 1964 graduate of the University of Maryland College Park.