Re: UND 2009-2010 Season Thread - The Lawnmower and Cookie tossing edition!
Sigh... The latest in the fighting Sioux nickname saga from today's GF Herald:
Supporters of UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname who lost their lawsuit against the state last year filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court Friday.
It could extend the life of the nickname because it could block the State Board of Higher Education from retiring the nickname until the court decides on the appeal. But Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Friday the appeal doesn’t prevent the board from changing the nickname if board members choose to do so.
The board will discuss what it can do about that at its monthly meeting Thursday at UND.
Grand Forks attorney Pat Morley, who filed the appeal on behalf of the supporters, said it typically takes as long as nine months for the Supreme Court to decide, but he understands the state will seek an expedited hearing and he’ll agree to it. However, Stenehjem said Friday he expected it would Morley asking for the expedited scheduling of the case.
It could all be over in 45 days, Morley said.
The nickname supporters, all members of the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation, filed the lawsuit when it became apparent that the state board was getting ready to retire the nickname at its Nov. 19 meeting in Minot.
A settlement between the state and the NCAA, which considers American Indian nicknames offensive, gives UND until Nov. 30 to win the approval of both the state’s Sioux tribes to keep the nickname. The supporters had already campaigned successfully to win their tribe’s approval in April, but fellow supporters at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have strug-gled.
Last May, the state board decided the Nov. 30 deadline was too late because UND wants to join the Summit League athletic conference and the league has said it won’t consider an application until the nickname issue is resolved.
When Standing Rock tribal leaders showed no signs they would move toward nickname approval anytime soon, the board began discussing retiring the nickname early.
Nickname supporters argue that the state is obligated to stick to the original 2010 deadline because it has an obligation to them as Sioux people who would lose out if the nickname is changed.
But authority to change UND’s athletic nickname is “part of the core responsibility of the Board of Higher Education, and not the courts or anybody else,” Stenehjem said.
