In July 2018, Schnatter participated in an internal training conference call with marketing consultants in which there was a role-playing exercise to help Schnatter avoid making remarks that could cause public controversy and damage the company's reputation. During the conference call, Schnatter said, "Colonel Sanders called blacks niggers and Sanders never faced public outcry". Schnatter also said that people in his home state of Indiana used to drag African Americans from trucks until they died. After the call, the owner of the marketing agency moved to end their contract with Papa John's. Schnatter resigned as chairman of the board the same day the incident was reported. Later that same day, Schnatter also stepped down from his position on the University of Louisville board of trustees.