University of Maryland alumnus Colin Byrd, who as a student pushed for the renaming of what was then called Byrd Stadium, won a Greenbelt City Council seat Tuesday.
Byrd received 1,392 of 14,077 votes — the third-highest total among the 13 candidates. All six incumbents were re-elected.
A member of the Greenbelt Climate Action Network, Indivisible Greenbelt and the Greenbelt Racial Equality Alliance, the 24-year-old was the youngest candidate running for the council. He was also the only candidate to serve as a delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention, according to a campaign biography on the city’s website.
[Read more: UMD students vie for Democratic National Convention ballot]
In his campaign video, Byrd said he wants to protect Old Greenbelt from “shady developers,” as well as focus on environmental concerns and reduce crime in the city.
While a student at this university, Byrd fought to change the name of Byrd Stadium, which was named after former university President Harry Clifton “Curley” Byrd, who held the position from 1935 to 1954.
[Read more: UMD’s NAACP chapter objects to exclusion from Byrd renaming group]
Protesters said Harry Clifton Byrd was a racist and a segregationist, and Colin Byrd, who is not related to the stadium’s namesake, joined other students in demanding that this university quickly change the stadium’s name.
The University System of Maryland Board of Regents voted in December 2015 to rename Byrd Stadium to Maryland Stadium.
