A Response to an article recently published in The Spectrum
(NDSU’s school paper)
I appreciate the sincere
congratulations on our NCAA hockey win. What I don’t appreciate is the finger
pointing and calling us awful people for celebrating a legacy that has been
with our school since 1930.
If you are unsure of the article I am referring to, here is
the link: http://ndsuspectrum.com/39692-2/
Yes, it is an opinion article, but I also have an opinion on
the issue.
The nickname is only still an issue because people refuse to
stop bringing it up in articles such as the one I am referring to. Yes, we
still cheer for the Fighting Sioux for now. No, we do not mean to be “racially
insensitive”. We were just thrown a new nickname recently, we need time to
adjust. UND had the Sioux nickname since 1930; it was passed on from
grandparents and parents to current students who grew up cheering for the
Sioux, so that adjustment time might be awhile.
When the nickname issue is brought up in articles like the
one mentioned, it’s just opening the fresh wound from getting our team’s
identity ripped away. I say fresh wound because it was only in 2012 that the
Fighting Sioux nickname was retired and it was November 18, 2015 that it was
announced that the Fighting Hawks would be our school’s new nickname and that
it would be used immediately-thus throwing our old identity out the window. It
was quite a shock to the system going from the Fighting Sioux identity to no
name (well we were called North Dakota, but that’s not much of an identity) to
having this new name, Fighting Hawks.
In the article that was published in The Spectrum the author
stated that “The Quinnipiac Bobcats used to be the Quinnipiac Braves, but you
didn’t hear their fans screaming that name throughout the championship.” He also says “In fact, I’d be willing to bet
that you didn’t even know that. Why? Because they understand the importance of
their change in mascot, and don’t go out of their way to bring it up.”
Do you know why they don’t bring it up anymore? Because the
school, which is a private university just for the record, voluntarily got rid
of the nickname in late 2001 after “a recommendation by President John Lahey,
and followed a semester of discussions by the Faculty Senate, Student
Government Association, President’s Cabinet and the Alumni Board of Governors.”
(http://www.uscho.com/2001/12/03/quinnipiac-drops-braves-as-schools-athletic-nickname/)
The Bobcats nickname was announced in late 2002- less than a
year later. Also according to another article, the school had a de-branding
initiative where t-shirts were handed out and excitement was brought to the new
name. (http://www.quchronicle.com/2002/09/bobcats-new-nickname-for-division-i-athletes/)
Whereas UND simply had a press conference after voting was done
announcing the nickname and then immediately started using the new name at games
and on the UND website and on sports programs on TV. There was no real plan to
get the students hyped up about the new identity, we were simply told that we
were now going to known as the Fighting Hawks.
What I am saying here is that Quinnipiac had 13 years to get
over their name change, UND on the other hand has only had a few months, so
clearly there is going to be a time period where people will still stand and cheer for
the Sioux, but given time I believe that the Fighting Hawks nickname will be
accepted by most.
Personally, I believe that the way we cheer for the Fighting
Sioux is no different than any student from NDSU, or any other school for that
matter, would cheer for their team (except for the car flipping and the vandalism-that
was uncalled for and an embarrassment, but I don’t think that the acts
represent UND as a whole either). We are showing support for our team that we care
about and want to do win when we cheer for the Sioux in the stadiums. Sure
there may be those fans that take it too far and are disrespectful, but I don’t
believe that what they do reflects on North Dakota as a whole- that’s just
taking it too far. What I do believe is that we need time as a University to
heal and accept this new change. If NDSU was to announce tomorrow that they
were dropping their Bison nickname, do you think that they would go down without
a fight? I doubt it, I bet we would be seeing those stupid horns thrown up at
every football and basketball game for quite a long time after the name would
be changed.
Although many people are unhappy with the new name, the
university did approach the change in a good way, setting up a committee and voting
to try to keep everyone happy. The university seemed to be well aware that the
change will take time to be accepted. Change takes time and sometimes people
are stubborn and don’t want it right away, but in time I know UND students and
fans will get acclimated to the new nickname and it will be accepted. I don’t think
that the Fighting Sioux legacy will ever go away, it has been around for
decades and it will always be a part of UND.
In our every deliberation, we must consider the
impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.
– Iroquois Maxim (circa 1700-1800)
