North Dakota's Board of Higher Education voted 8-0 yesterday in Dickinson to retire the nickname starting October First.
The nickname and logo could be kept if the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes endorse them by October First and agree to let the university use them for at least 30 years.
But tribal officials say that possibility is remote. Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Ron His Horse Is Thunder strongly opposes the nickname.
This has been a hot button issue for several years. The decision by the Board reflects a settlement with the NCAA which had decided not to allow schools with "abusive" nicknames to use their logos in post-season play, but agreed to allow UND to continue to use their name if they got permission from a couple Sioux tribes. UND is a perennial hockey powerhouse; if not for that, I'm not sure their teams get to the post-season.
Generally, I'm all in favor of doing away with the mascotting of groups' identities and misappropriation of their culture without their permission, particularly when the use is demeaning (e.g. Redskins). Still, it's sad for me to see the Fighting Sioux name go, and I wonder if it isn't really good PR for the tribes for people to have the constant reminder of their existence that comes with the use of the name.
An interesting episode in UND's battle over its name is that there was a donor who donated money to UND on the condition that the school not change its name. From Wikipedia:
Former Fighting Sioux hockey player and wealthy alumnus Ralph Engelstad donated $100 million dollars for the construction of Ralph Engelstad Arena. This is one of the largest philanthropic donations ever made to a public institution of higher learning. One of Engelstad's conditions for his donation was that the University keep the Fighting Sioux name indefinitely.[6] Engelstad placed thousands of Fighting Sioux logos in numerous places throughout the arena to make physical removal of the logo very costly if attempted.I wonder what consequence Ralph had in mind if UND were to change its name; must they tear the stadium down?
