http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=87270

Lloyd Omdahl: UND should give up its albatross gracefully

Grand Forks Herald
Published Monday, September 22, 2008

GRAND FORKS — While former UND basketball star Phil Jackson recommends that
the university resolve the Fighting Sioux logo gracefully, the chance to be
graceful is slipping away. Push is going to escalate to shove, and UND will
not be on the pushing end.

To put added pressure on logo supporters, Chancellor William Goetz of the
North Dakota Higher Education System recently said that he wants this
nickname issue resolved sooner than the three-year timeline set.

“We can’t wait until November 2010,” Goetz told executives at the Herald.
It’s a safe bet that UND’s new president, Robert Kelley, agrees.

If we wait until the last minute, the conclusion will not be graceful. Room
for negotiation will be gone, and UND will be forced to accept a decision
without being able to retreat with dignity or grace.

As a former logo supporter, I have concluded that it is time for Fighting
Sioux logo diehards to recognize some immutable facts about the
controversy.

* For the NCAA, the logo challenge is just the first shot across the bow.
If the issue isn’t resolved to its satisfaction, the NCAA will be back with
more restrictions on the use of logos until the UND position becomes
untenable.

* As UND goes into Division I, it will encounter other schools that oppose
American Indian logos. One or two schools have already expressed an
aversion to playing teams with such logos. We are making ourselves
vulnerable to a negative backlash by persisting.

* Eventually, national organizations such as the American Association of
University Professors will discourage potential faculty members from
considering UND. If the organization takes formal action, UND will be the
outlaw of higher education.

* Even if the Sioux tribal officials endorse the logo, such an endorsement
would be valid only until the next tribal elections. There is no guarantee
that a new slate of council members would honor the decisions of previous
councils. After all, the North Dakota Legislature does not honor laws
passed by previous legislatures. It often reverses and rewrites the
enactments of previous sessions. Thus, the existence of the logo would be
at the mercy of each tribal election.

* Whether non-Indians see the logo as oppressive or not, it creates an aura
of oppression that cannot be assuaged by our own pontificating. If someone
is feeling harmed by the logo, it is not very ethical for us to perpetuate
alienation and divisiveness.

The logo has become an albatross slowing the progress of UND as a flagship
institution, and it is becoming a bigger albatross with each passing month.

The chancellor is right. We can’t wait until November 2010.