Monday, February 13, 2012

University of North Dakota resumes using Fighting Sioux nickname

We read:
"Riding a wave of public support, the University of North Dakota has resumed using its "Fighting Sioux" nickname despite threats of sanctions from NCAA officials and a looming legal fight that could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We realize the NCAA will likely place us back on sanction status immediately," said Grant Shaft, president of the state's Board of Higher Education.

Supporters of the nickname, which the NCAA regards as insensitive to Native Americans, are seeking a referendum on whether to restore a law repealed in November that required UND to keep the name. The school dropped the name when the law was repealed.

Shaft was joined in his defiance by the school president, Robert Kelley, who announced Wednesday that the 14,000-student public school's athletic teams will resume using the nickname. Kelly said the school decided to resume using the nickname and logo to respect the state's referendum process, which requires that the pro-nickname law be in effect while the state reviews the more than 17,000 signatures submitted to North Dakota's secretary of state on Tuesday.

"I want to reaffirm our respect for the laws of the state and the processes guaranteed under the North Dakota Constitution," Kelley's statement read.

Shaft told FoxNews.com his office plans to meet on Monday with North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, whom he expects will advise the board of its options. Shaft said the board is likely to join Stenehjem's bid for a declaratory position from the U.S. Supreme Court on the matter.

Source

8 comments:

Bird of Paradise said...

Tell the leftists NCAA to GO TAKE A HIKE

Anonymous said...

I have a different beef with the NCAA:
1. NCAA and Universities make obscene amounts of profit off the backs of their athletes.
2. The NCAA supported BSC is completely asinine.

Matt said...

And of course, these lefties always ignore Notre Dame and the Fightin' Irish. Same type of thing, except the Irish aren't "people of color" (I guess red hair and freckles don't count as "color"). These idiots have nothing better to do than cry in their hankies about non-exitant injustice; so why do they get money?

Anonymous said...

the ncaa is a bunch of hypocrites. They complain about schools using Indian names, but they located in Indianapolis,Indiana, what is wrong with this picture. But what u expect from a bunch of libtards.

Go Away Bird said...

And with pressure from these annoying PETA dip-wads predatorial animals will be next on the NCAA hit list

Anonymous said...

1. NCAA and Universities make obscene amounts of profit off the backs of their athletes.

Yet most athletic departments in colleges are operating in the red. The cost of a 5 year degree program is roughly $100,000 - $150,000. That is hardly chump change or slave wages being given to the student athlete.

2. The NCAA supported BSC is completely asinine.

I suspect you mean BCS. If not, I am not sure what you are talking about. If you are talking about the BCS, no other proposed system solves any of the issues people level at the BCS and add more issues. The BCS works and is better than any proposed playoff system.

Sig said...

So has anyone actually bothered to ask any Sioux representatives if they are offended by the use of their name? Or could it actually be that they are honored by the use of their name to represent strong unity and strength of the school?

Anonymous said...

So has anyone actually bothered to ask any Sioux representatives if they are offended by the use of their name? Or could it actually be that they are honored by the use of their name to represent strong unity and strength of the school?

Believe it or not, the NCAA's policy is that if one group or tribe objects to the name, it is canned.

As I remember, the majority of the Sioux nation had no issues with the name. There were one or two tribes that did and so the name was deemed "offensive" by the NCAA.

The only conclusion is that the standard to allow or disallow the name is not objective, but subjective to the whims and feelings of people.

That is hardly a way to run an organization.