Preliminary nickname petition count: More than enough
February 9, 2012 at 6:04 am in Grand Forks Herald
Petitions submitted to state officials Tuesday night to force a referendum on UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname contain approximately 16,770 signatures, Secretary of State Al Jaeger said today. Jaeger said it was a preliminary count, and his office will continue with the review process to determine whether the issue should be placed on the June primary election ballot. Continue Reading
O boy!
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Univ. of ND will use Fighting Sioux nickname
By DALE WETZEL, Associated Press – 20 hours ago
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The University of North Dakota resumed using its contentious Fighting Sioux nickname Wednesday even though it triggered NCAA sanctions, leaving some fans weary of the seven-year fight over a moniker that critics believe is demeaning.
A law requiring the school to use its longtime nickname and logo, which shows the profile of an American Indian warrior, was repealed eight months after it took effect last year in a bid to help the university avoid NCAA sanctions. But ardent nickname supporters filed petitions with more than 17,000 signatures late Tuesday, demanding that the issue be put to a statewide vote.
As part of that process, the law — which the university, the state Board of Higher Education and local lawmakers oppose — temporarily goes back into effect. An NCAA spokesman said Wednesday that means the school won’t host championship events, and its athletes will be barred from wearing uniforms with the nickname or logo in post-season play.
“As soon as that petition was filed last night, the law reverts,” University President Robert Kelley told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I don’t want to violate the law.”
Still, the decision frustrated fans and alumni who have watched the fight drag on since 2005, when the NCAA prodded 19 schools to get rid of American Indian nicknames, logos and mascots that it considered “hostile and abusive” to Indians. The University of North Dakota is the only school left where the issue is in serious dispute.
“It’s getting pretty tiresome, even for a pretty gung-ho nickname supporter,” said 36-year-old alumnus Shawn Carlson, who lives in Fargo, about 80 miles south of the school’s campus in Grand Forks, near the Minnesota border.
Former Fighting Sioux football player Ross Almlie, 39, agreed: “I’d have just as much pride for the university with or without the nickname and logo. Put me in the camp that believes we have bigger fish to fry.”
Since the repeal, the school has moved to retire the nickname and logo, dropping references to them from websites and changing Internet addresses that referred to the Fighting Sioux. The Indian profile was replaced by a new logo showing the interlocked letters N and D.
However, nickname supporters revived the issue anew by filing referendum petitions that they said had more than 17,000 signatures. They need a minimum of 13,452 signatures from eligible North Dakota voters to qualify for the June ballot.
Secretary of State Al Jaeger has about a month to scrutinize the petitions and decide whether they meet legal standards. He then will decide whether the referendum should go on the June ballot.
Kelley said the university’s men’s and women’s hockey teams and the women’s basketball team have a chance for post-season play in the coming months, and he wasn’t yet sure how the teams would be affected.
“But clearly, by being mandated by state law to be Fighting Sioux, we are right back to where we were before the repeal,” the president said.
The university has been accepted into the Big Sky Conference as part of its move to NCAA Division I athletics.
Doug Fullerton, the conference’s commissioner, said the school could become a weaker conference member if uses its Fighting Sioux nickname and logo because it would be barred from hosting playoff games. The sanctions also could result in recruiting problems.
“We’re not making a value judgment about the nickname,” Fullerton said. “We think we’re one of the strongest conferences in the (Football Championship Subdivision), and we expect our members to play right at the top. If they can’t play post-season home games, that doesn’t help.”
The state Board of Higher Education will likely meet with North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem on Monday to discuss whether to go to court to block reinstatement of the law, board President Grant Shaft said Wednesday.
When the fight began seven years ago, the NCAA told the University of North Dakota and the other schools with American Indian nicknames or logos that to avoid sanctions, they needed to change the names or obtain permission from local tribes. Most changed their nicknames, though some — including the Florida State Seminoles and the Central Michigan Chippewas — got tribal permission to keep them.
North Dakota challenged the NCAA edict in court. In a settlement, the school agreed to begin retiring its nickname if it could not obtain consent to continue its use from North Dakota’s Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Sioux tribes by Nov. 30, 2010.
Spirit Lake tribal members endorsed the name. But the Standing Rock Sioux’s tribal council, which opposed the nickname, has declined to support it or to allow its tribal members to vote.
Current supporters of the nickname and petition drive include members of both the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes.
The law forcing the school to use the name and logo was approved in March, pushed by some prominent university alumni and Republican House Majority Leader Al Carlson. Carlson said he resented the NCAA’s bullying and what he regarded as the Board of Higher Education’s clumsy handling of the matter.
Carlson hoped the law would make the NCAA reconsider its opposition to the nickname and logo, but NCAA officials remained adamant during a summer meeting with Carlson, Gov. Jack Dalrymple and other officials.
The law was repealed during a special legislative session last November, with many former supporters switching sides and saying it had not accomplished its purpose of influencing the NCAA.
Reed Soderstrom, chairman of the referendum campaign, hailed the university’s decision Wednesday and discouraged members of the higher education board from going back to court.
“They would seem to be following a method of trying to disenfranchise the voters, and I don’t think they have the power to do that,” he said.
Associated Press writer Dave Kolpack contributed to this report from Fargo, N.D.
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I would like to see an analysis of the demographics of the 17,000 signees.
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Rumor has it all the black and Chinese people in North Dakota signed the petition. What do you think the demographics looks like, look at the demographic breakdown for the state of North Dakota. It’s a pie chart that looks like it’s 99% complete circle.
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STATEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL WAYNE STENEHJEM
ON THE SETTLEMENT OF THE LAWSUIT AGAINST THE NCAA
October 26, 2007
On August 5, 2005 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) announced that it had adopted a policy that prohibited the display of Native American names or imagery deemed hostile or abusive on team uniforms and associated paraphernalia at NCAA Championship events and additionally prohibited schools that continue to use Native American names and imagery from hosting or bidding to host
Championship events. The Policy further announced a set of “best practices” for member institutions to consider adopting which would encourage member institutions to
refrain from scheduling regular season competition with schools that continue to use Native American names and imagery. The University of North Dakota (“UND”) was
identified and placed on the list of schools subject to these restrictions.
The NCAA subsequently announced the procedures that an identified school had for challenging its inclusion on the list of offending schools. The NCAA also announced that as part of that review, one primary factor that would be considered would be whether a sovereign tribe had provided formal approval for the use of the name and associated imagery. Through the appeals process provided by the NCAA, only those schools with namesake tribal approval were granted exemptions from the Policy.
UND appealed its inclusion on the list of offending school through each step of the internal process afforded by the NCAA. On April 27, 2006, the NCAA issued a final decision rejecting UND’s appeal, determining that UND would remain on the list of offending schools deemed to be using hostile or abusive names and imagery.
At the conclusion of the appeals process, it was determined that the only remaining recourse available to UND was through the initiation of litigation. The internal appeals process was complete and UND did not have any further ability to challenge the NCAA’s determination and its inclusion of UND on the list of schools deemed to be
using hostile or abusive names and imagery. The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education subsequently authorized, and on October 6, 2006, UND initiated a lawsuit
against the NCAA for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and for violations of North Dakota antitrust law. On November 11,
2006, the District Court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the application of the Policy to UND until the issues were resolved at trial.
After extensive negotiation, the State Board of Higher Education on October 26, 2007, formally agreed to settle the lawsuit against the NCAA. Under the settlement terms, UND will be provided a three-year period from November 30, 2007 in which to engage in a dialogue with North Dakota Sioux Tribes for purposes of securing namesake approval for the continued use of the “Sioux” name and logo. If namesake
approval is provided by both Spirit Lake and Standing Rock during this time period, the NCAA will agree to exempt UND from application of the Championship restrictions.
At the end of the three-year period, should UND not have namesake approval from both Spirit Lake and Standing Rock, UND agrees to transition to a new name and logo. The NCAA agrees to provide UND additional time until August 15, 2011 to
accomplish the transition. In addition, certain imagery is allowed to transition at later dates, and some imagery would be allowed to remain indefinitely without implicating championship restrictions.
The NCAA also expressly agreed to make a public statement on the campus environment at UND. The NCAA statement is:
The NCAA recognizes the University of North Dakota’s many
programs and outreach services to the Native American
community and surrounding areas. The University of North
Dakota is a national leader in offering educational programs
to Native Americans. The University has indicated that it intends to use the current name and logo with the utmost respect and dignity, and only for so long as it may do so with the support of the Native American community. The NCAA does not dispute UND’s sincerity in this regard.
The NCAA believes, as a general proposition, that the use of
Native American names and imagery can create a hostile or
abusive environment in collegiate athletics. However, the
NCAA did not make any other findings about the environment on UND’s campus. The NCAA also acknowledges that reasonable people can disagree about the propriety of Native American imagery in athletics. The NCAA believes that the time has come to retire Native American imagery in college sports. This public acknowledgement was an important component of the settlement.
The settlement was agreed to by the Board by unanimous vote and approved by the Attorney General. As part of the settlement, it is stipulated that the lawsuit against the NCAA will be dismissed with prejudice.
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The blame for the current situation that the school is in rests firmly on Al Carlsons shoulders. If this law would never have passed in the first place there would be no repeal the repeal effort.
For those of you who don’t have the opportunity to listen to radio while at work, the last two days have had Fullerton and Faison on the air stating exactly what uvikingslost posted in his 3:45pm post. Big Sky can remove UND if they feel the controversy is to much. Fullerton also stated that it would take a unanimous vote of the Presidents to do so, however unanimous votes are NOT that uncommon.
As I have said in the past, the fight for the name and Logo should have been done BEFORE November 30, 2010 after that the contract became a legal and binding document.
For those of you with your heads in the sand going nanananananana ‘I don’t want to hear’.. Now it is flipping time to actually take the wax out of your ears. We are at the very real stage of where you are going to permanently damage a schools reputation and ability to compete on the National level.
Faison confirmed today that any current matches between UND and Minnesota, Wisconsin are canceled. Those schools have rules about this specific issue.
Dear Donny Barcome Jr. statements of the other day have been blown out of the water. Fullerton point blank said, the Big Sky DOESN’T need UND. He has called your bluff, he is holding Royal Flush and you guys don’t even have a pair.
Go Alcorn State!
BTW it was funny hearing you on the radio today ‘Always’ cough Frank cough.. You still don’t get it, your still use the same old arguments that have been blasted out of the water. You really should read the agreement Frank.. It states that UND had to have affirmative support from both the SL and SR tribes. A State of ND vote WON’T constitute the SR affirmative support because the tribe lands are 2/3′s in SOUTH Dakota.. So how are you going to force them to vote???
This needs to end and it needs to end soon before the school is left to sitting in the Ralph all by themselves drinking their tears and remembering the glory days.
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Do you really think the Minnesota and Wisconsin fans are going to stand for a ban of UND? How would they ban games where they’re required to play UND during conference play… forfeit these games to UND?
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maverick says:
“The blame for the current situation that the school is in rests firmly on Al Carlsons shoulders. If this law would never have passed in the first place there would be no repeal the repeal effort.”
You call it blame…I call it thanks.
But what Carlson did was not that important in the grand scheme of this debate.
The University of North Dakota has done nothing to deserve this treatment by the NCAA.
The use of the Sioux name at the University of North Dakota is not hostile and abusive.
I am sorry that the half-hearted effort and the ridiculously one-sided “agreement” entered into by Stenejehm was ever done. It was a mistake, and now it is being corrected.
Almost everyone on this blog cries about how the sanctions will hurt UND athletics. Some believe it will, others, believe it will not.
However, that is not the question that needs to be answered. The question that needs to be answered is whether the use of the name and logo is hostile and abusive. That is what the NCAA is supposedly trying to address.
If you accept that the name must be changed, it will be because the NCAA has determined that the use of the name by the University is hostile and abusive to Native Americans, and further that the NDBHE and President Kelley agree with that assessment.
That makes all alumni of UND, and in effect, all North Dakotans ignorant racist hicks.
I do not abide that characterization of North Dakotans.
If you do believe that characterization is accurate…now you will have a chance to let the world know how you feel.
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I would rather be called an ignorant racist hick then have one of the two best institutions in this state irreparably harmed. You know why?? Names don’t bother me.. I was taught a long time ago ‘That sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me’. Also I know it isn’t the truth and the people that I do business with know it isn’t the truth.
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“John Bernard Books:
I won’t be wronged.
I won’t be insulted.
I won’t be laid a-hand on.
I don’t do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”
Author Unknown in The Shootist
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Maverick – excellent post! As for Standing Rock, you are absolutely correct, a vote in this so-called state referendum means nothing, when a majority of SR people don’t live in ND, they live in SOUTH Dakota.
In your face – “Always” !
Nickname supporters have done nothing but destroy UND athletics forever, I have no doubt Herald headlines will read very soon – ” Big Sky drops on UND “, btw Herald, i give you permission to use that headline when it happens.
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Well, then SR should not even be part of the surrender agreement. Thanks for solving the issue. SL gave its consent. All is well.
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Haha, nice try but not what the agreement says that the dumb State of ND made with the NCAA.
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ND = One tribe – 2 res. votes; Florida = one tribe – one res. vote
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Oh, I forgot, Utah = one tribe, one res. vote
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That’s like saying only people with Irish blood can vote to repeal Notre Dame’s nickname, or only Scandanavian people can vote to repeal the Vikings nickname. UND is a North Dakota public university, all residents of North Dakota have a vote. And not all Sioux live on reservations.
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http://www.ag.nd.gov/NCAA/SettlementAgreement.pdf
State of North Dakota In District Court
County of Grand Forks Northeast Central Judicial District
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT and MUTUAL RELEASE
Civ No. 06-C-01333
Filed: October 26, 2007
State of North Dakota, by and
through the North Dakota
State Board of Higher Education,
and the University of North Dakota,
Plaintiff,
v.
National Collegiate Athletic Association,
Defendant.
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