By Kevin Jefferies
Commerce – A&M-Commerce is demanding an apology from Disney for inaccuracies involving Commerce and East Texas State University in the movie Glory Road. The movie follows the history-making story of the Texas Western Miners, who won the NCAA title as the first team to ever start five black players in a championship game.
In the movie, a match between the clearly identified East Texas State University (the former name of A&M-Commerce) and Texas Western (now know as The University of Texas at El Paso) portrays fans throwing drinks and yelling racial slurs at Texas Western players. A later scene shows a vandalized hotel room with racial slurs written in red on the walls.
A&M-Commerce says it never happened. Records show the two teams did play, but the game was held in El Paso, not Commerce. A&M-Commerce President Keith McFarland said in a statement that the events go beyond the realms of literary license and decency. The university has asked Disney, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director James Gartner and the screenplay writers to apologize for the scenes.
Click here to listen to an excerpt of February's A&M-Commerce Today with Vicki Holloway, where President McFarland addresses the inaccuracies in Glory Road