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Of all the racist sports nicknames, this one ranks low on the scale.
One of these days someone will figure out how bad the nickname "Red Raider" really is....
MAYVILLE, N.D. -- A state Supreme Court ruling and a Board of Higher Education decision have retired for good the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname after a four-year legal battle.
The court ruled Thursday that the board had the authority to dump the nickname at any time. The court rejected an appeal that sought to delay action. A motion later Thursday at the board's regularly scheduled meeting in Mayville to reconsider its vote in May to retire the nickname died after nobody seconded it.
Claus Lembke, the board member who made the failed motion, said the board was "giving in to a minority of people on the issue." Board president Richie Smith had said before the vote that he thought no further action was required to retire the nickname. Board member and university alumnus Grant Shaft said afterward that he believes most people are tired of the controversy.
"I think people have moved to the point, for a number of reasons, that they wanted this to move along," Shaft said. UND president Robert Kelley, who was hired in part to help the school in its transition from Division II to Division I athletics, said he's looking forward to managing the nickname transition.
"It's hard sitting on your hands waiting for a deliberate process to run its course, not knowing what the outcome would be," Kelley said after the board meeting. "Now that we have a decision from the state board, we can move ahead."
In their ruling, the justices said the board had the authority to change the nickname before a Nov. 30 deadline set in a settlement with the NCAA. A group of eight Spirit Lake Sioux tribal members who want the school to keep the nickname were seeking to have the court bar any decision before the deadline.
The state Supreme Court said nothing in the settlement prevents the board from making a decision before the deadline.
Supporters believe the logo shows pride and tradition. But the NCAA considers the nickname "hostile and offensive" and said UND cannot host postseason events without approval from the state's two Sioux tribes. Under the settlement, the board and UND agreed to begin retiring the nickname if they couldn't obtain permission from the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock Sioux tribes by Nov. 30.
Spirit Lake tribal members have voted to support the nickname, but the Standing Rock tribal council has resisted calls for it to change its bylaws to allow a vote on the issue.
A district judge dismissed the Spirit Lake members' lawsuit in December. The state Supreme Court agreed to hear an expedited appeal after UND officials pleaded with the board to decide the issue quickly so the school could pursue admission to the Summit League.
Summit League president Tom Douple has said UND won't be considered for admission until the school finds a solution that makes the NCAA happy.
The Spirit Lake members' attorney, Patrick Morley, didn't return a call Thursday seeking comment.
Shaft said he doesn't think it'll make a difference if Standing Rock decides to support the logo.
"With the makeup of the board right now, I don't think we have the opportunity to bring it back for reconsideration," Shaft said.
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
Of all the racist sports nicknames, this one ranks low on the scale.
One of these days someone will figure out how bad the nickname "Red Raider" really is....
How about "Peaceful Sioux"?
What is going to suck for ND is that their hockey arena has that logo pretty much everywhere (2200 total). It will cost a load to remove all of them. Then again, they knew this was an issue and built it anyway.
The NCAA forced McMurry to give up "Indians" (just that) a few years ago. The fact that the school had utterly no derogatory usage connected with the mascot, and in fact set up observances each year to celebrate the contribution of native americans, was ignored in the race to be politically correct.
Since then, the sports teams just go by the name of "McMurry." No nicknames or mascot, and they still observe their celebrations of native americans.
Is the key issue here. I understand many people feel otherwise but this is just a bunch of you know what. Don't we have other more pressing issues to deal with rather than this? Especially if the ins ution honors and respects the traditions of the people who nickname they are using as in the case of McMurray.
This whole thing pisses me off. If the Native Americans didn't want colleges mocking their culture so much, they would have developed better weapons than in bow and arrows.
Yup, same w/ Arkansas State. They were formally the Indians, but in 2008, had to change to the Red Wolves.
*shake head* NCAA *facepalm*
Rename 'em the Custers and move on....
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