BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Jack Dalrymple asked North Dakota lawmakers on Monday to reverse a decision they made eight months earlier and allow the University of North Dakota to drop its Fighting Sioux athletics nickname.
Should the Legislature go along, the university and the Board of Higher Education would be free to carry out earlier plans to retire the nickname and a related logo that features the profile of an American Indian warrior.
The NCAA considers both offensive to American Indians and has encouraged schools to decline to schedule UND as long as the nickname and logo are kept.
Dalrymple led a delegation of legislative and university leaders to the NCAA’s headquarters in Indianapolis in August to make a final plea that UND be allowed to keep its nickname and logo without suffering NCAA sanctions. The NCAA declined.
“I believe it was worth the effort to do everything we could to keep the university’s proud nickname,” Dalrymple said in his Monday speech to lawmakers. “But now, with the University of North Dakota facing harm to its student athletes, and to all students, it is time to move forward.”
Sen. Lonnie Laffen, R-Grand Forks, has introduced a bill to reverse lawmakers’ earlier directive.
At a hearing on Monday on the measure, the university’s athletics director, Brian Faison, said keeping the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo already has caused scheduling difficulties and would jeopardize the school’s plans to join the Big Sky Conference in July.
