UND’s future, “athletically, academically, in stature and in reputation,” is at stake if Fighting Sioux nickname supporters prevail and force the university to keep the name and corresponding logo, UND alumni head Tim O’Keefe writes in a strongly-worded letter posted Friday to the state’s newspapers. (See Letters to the Editor)

“The retirement of the Fighting Sioux nickname must continue,” he writes, as the issues and dangers “have extended themselves way beyond the sanctions imposed by the NCAA on teams that use American Indian imagery. I am completely opposed” to the aim of the drives because of the risks to the university, O’Keefe writes. “Their potential outcomes are not in the best interests of UND,” he writes, “and they especially ignore the student-athletes of today and those we will be proud of in the future.”

Nickname supporters immediately challenged O’Keefe’s assessment of the situation. “I honestly believe the (UND) athletic department will not suffer from this,” said Frank Black Cloud, a Spirit Lake Sioux tribal member and spokesman for the tribe’s pro-nickname Committee for Understanding and Respect. “The Fighting Sioux will bring a great Division I team to all the sports,” he said. “UND should join in this fight with us and stand up to the NCAA. It’s not just people in the two tribes now but it’s the whole state that’s behind this. One of the things people tend to forget is that we as Native Americans gave this name to UND. A culture, a heritage and a religious ceremony are being stomped upon.”

This is turning into one big mess again! Will it ever end? The nickname was in the process of being retired and all was well. We, as a community, were set to move forward and, for three years, be known as UND or North Dakota. Then after the three-year cooling off period, we would pick a new name. That’s what was supposed to happen, yet now we have petitions, Supreme Courts, Attorneys General all involved in this.

Let me remind my readers that UND is a public institution funded in great part by both state and federal tax dollars. This nickname mess now has taken another turn that is costing our university a great deal of money, and if we have the Attorney General and State Board of Higher Education and even the North Dakota Supreme Court involved they are all paid with tax dollars and have to spend their time dealing with this. Stop wasting time and tax dollars on this never-ending nickname debacle, and let’s put our tax dollars to work in places that we really need them. Enough is enough.