By Joseph Lyell —

U of L President Neeli Bendapudi said she was disappointed to hear the Forbes report of John Schnatter used the N-word in a conference call with Papa John’s executives and a marketing agency.

“Disappointment for everybody concerned, disappointment for us, disappointment for him,” Bendapudi said.

Schnatter resigned from U of L’s board of trustees less than 12 hours after the report. Bendapudi said the university is evaluating its relationship with Papa John’s, including possibly renaming Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Bendapudi did not take a stance on the proposed name change.

“To be candid, it’s not just my personal opinion but all of us as a team and as a representative of the community, it’s something that we have to talk about and we will look at,” she said.

Bendapudi said she had not talked to Schnatter since the report, and the board did not ask for his resignation.

Bendapudi said she expects an apology from Schnatter.

“I am confident that he will express genuine regret for his employees, for the university and for the students,” she said.

Bendapudi said she wants students to feel welcome, knowing that the university exists only because of them.

“I am actually quite confident that they know that we will always have their best interests at heart, and that we are working as hard as we can to do the right thing,” she said.

Photo by Arry Schofield / The Louisville Cardinal