IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod has dressed as a robot to heckle Bill Clinton and Michele Bachmann. Now he’s targeting his own school over its controversial pink visitors’ locker room at Kinnick Stadium.
McLeod is organizing what he jokingly calls the “Million Robot March” to protest at an annual event Friday honoring former Iowa coach Hayden Fry, who had the locker room painted pink in 1979.
McLeod is calling for the school to ditch the pink, which he says amounts to a school-sanctioned taunt that exudes homophobia and sexism. He said previous protests haven’t been successful, so he’s taking an absurd approach to draw attention to the issue.
Fry has said pink is calming and meant to make Hawkeyes’ opponents passive, and it has become part of Hawkeyes lore.