A Boulder-based LGBTQ rights group is asking CU Boulder to scuttle plans for a bronze statue of Bill McCartney outside Folsom Field. McCartney, often referred to as “Coach Mac,” led the 1990 Buffs football team to a national championship and is still the most winning coach in the school’s history.
The university announced in April that it would install a statue of him on the east side of the stadium during the fall football season — only the second statue at the facility. A scholarship endowment in McCartney’s name was announced at the same time.
Last week, Rocky Mountain Equality (RMEQ; formerly OUT Boulder County), made a public statement criticizing the decision given McCartney’s past anti-gay statements and advocacy, which include calling homosexuality “an abomination against the almighty God” and supporting an attempt to scrap workplace and housing anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals.
“Please, let’s not do this,” RMEQ’s chief executive officer Mardi Moore said in a May 14 interview. “Of course, we want a winning football team and to acknowledge the players who did so well, but not at the expense of another community.”
McCartney issued a public apology for his comment in 2010 while seeking to return as CU’s head coach. He died earlier this year at the age of 84.
Moore said the harm caused by McCartney’s views — expressed while wearing CU Boulder-branded gear — live on.
“The harm that was created in that period of time in the early ’90s, those people are still alive,” Moore said. “That statue brings forward the past, but it goes forward into the future. As a gay player, would I come to CU? Probably not.”
Moore said RMEQ contacted the chancellor’s department before going public with their concerns but “didn’t get much information” about how the decision was made.
“The statue and endowment are a tribute to Coach Mac’s achievements as a coach and leader during his time as head football coach at CU,” university spokesperson Steve Hurlbert wrote in response to emailed questions. “Coach Mac recognized his past statements on LGBTQ rights were wrong and he subsequently apologized for them publicly.”
According to Hurlbert, the statue was initiated by two men who played football for McCartney, whom the university is not naming at this point “unless [the former players’] wishes change.”
“We had to go through a number of steps,” Hurlbert wrote, “including through a campus design committee to get it approved,” a process he said took two years.
The approximately $275,000 statue was exclusively paid for through private donations, “largely funded by former players of Coach McCartney,” Hurlbert said. Both the statue and endowment are almost entirely funded, but the CU athletic department is still accepting donations “to ensure the endowment continues in perpetuity.”
Moore of RMEQ said the statue is a rare misstep in an otherwise “great relationship” with CU, but a concerning one.
“They’ve been a great partner to our organizations for probably close to a decade,” Moore said. “As universities are under the threats of DEI and losing funding, it just makes you wonder what they think they can get away with in not supporting the LGBTQ community.”
Tyler Hickman contributed reporting.
This article has been updated to reflect RMEQ's correct acronym.