Ever wanted to name a university's mascot? Now's your chance!

[RealSNR]

The University of North Dakota got rid of the Fighting Sioux in 2012, and since that time, they have been simply "The University of North Dakota." No mascot. Fighting Sioux was beloved by the community of Grand Forks largely because of the tradition associated with it in the university's college hockey program, which has been historically and recently one of the top college hockey programs in the NCAA.

The university has finally assembled a committee to look through suggestions and recommend a new mascot to the president of the university. They just need the suggestions. That's where you come in. Simply click the link and fill out the online form: http://und.edu/nickname/

Here are the basic guidelines to consider (from the UND announcement):

Spoiler!

Online suggestions, which must be 25 characters or less (including any spaces), will be accepted from Wednesday, April 1 at 8 a.m. CDT to Thursday, April 30 at 11:59 p.m. CDT. All mail-in submissions must be postmarked no later than April 25.

The Nickname Committee will evaluate submissions based on a list of attributes that the group has developed:

• Be unique, recognizable, inspiring, and distinctly UND’s;
• Promote a sense of pride, strength, fierceness, and passion;
• Be representative of the state and region in a way that honors the traditions and heritage of the past but also looks to the future; and
• Be a unifying and rallying symbol.

Submissions are anonymous; individuals submitting suggestions will not be asked to provide their names. All nickname submissions are subject to North Dakota open records law. Individuals submitting nickname suggestions are not entitled to compensation or anything of value in exchange for the submission, and all submissions become the property of the University of North Dakota.

The Committee will accept suggestions for nicknames only. Drawings, designs, logos, art files, special characters, etc. will not be considered.

Nickname suggestions will be sent directly to PadillaCRT, a group that has national expertise in nickname development and that has been advising the Nickname Committee. Any nickname suggestions known to be trademarked and/or subject to third-party rights or uses may not be considered by the Committee.

Since I'm originally from Grand Forks, I have connections to people who are abuzz with this process. I can tell you that there are already some favorites being championed:

--Flickertails. This was the university's mascot prior to becoming the Fighting Sioux in the 1930s. Given the university's recent goals of expanding into a tier-one research university, it makes a lot of sense to go with rodentia like their counterparts in the Big 10 (gophers, badgers). North Dakota is also known as the Flickertail State.

--Roughriders. The safest bet. Nothing says North Dakota pride like references to Teddy Roosevelt. Would also still manage to piss off a few people, since Teddy Roosevelt probably killed a few Indians when he was out in the North Dakota Badlands. It largely boils down to whether or not the university is cool with proudly stating to people, "Yeah, you might think of condoms when you hear our name, but we're still going to beat you in hockey!"

--Pilots. UND's aviation research and development program is unanimously known as the best in the country. It's odd to pick a mascot based on the strength of an academic program, but eh... weirder things have happened.

--Green Meadowlarks. This one combines creativity with tradition and old-sounding college mascot nomenclature, but it's also kind of weird. The Western Meadowlark is the state bird of North Dakota, and green and white are the school's primary colors. A problem with this is that I believe the Western Meadowlark is also the state bird of like 20 other states. It's still better than Banana Slugs.

--Keep using no mascot. The most likely option, I think. It's the last method that UND fans have to tell the NCAA to go **** itself for making the university ditch Fighting Sioux. There's a rule in place that they can't have a racial mascot, but there is no rule that says the school has to have a mascot, just a nice little memo that says, "It would be really nice if your school had a mascot so we could maintain the entire aesthetic of the neighborhood. Smiley face." It would also make the university stand out and be truly unique.

But that doesn't mean you can't play a role in creating collegiate athletic history! So get in there!

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I really am kind of crushed by that. Ermines would have been awesome. Now we have to look for some other racist school with tundra that will consider it.

I assume you know most ermines aren't albino...

[Toby Waller]

stupid ass anti- indian crap.

School was stupid to give in to a none issue

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by frankpitts

stupid ass anti- indian crap.

School was stupid to give in to a none issue

What the **** was the school supposed to do? Let the sanctions continue against the athletic programs? Tell new recruits for football and basketball, "Hey, hope you decide to come here, because the NCAA hates our guts and won't let us participate in any postseason events if we're good enough to get in. But at least we'll be Fighting Sioux, right?!"

[displacedinMN]

Looks like the Fighting Sioux is not totally dead-The fault of the NCAA

http://www.startribune.com/north-dak...caa/369329711/

Despite banning nickname, UND sells 'Fighting Sioux' items
By DAVE KOLPACK Associated Press FEBRUARY 19, 2016 — 8:07AM
itemprop
MARLYS LORD CARLSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this Feb. 9, 2016 photo provided by Marlys Lord Carlson, University of North Dakota freshman Nick Carlson smiles over his haul of UND Fighting Sioux gear that he bought at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. The merchandise is part of the Dacotah Legacy Collection that includes a limited number of items featuring the nickname that was retired more than three years ago after the NCAA deemed the logo hostile and abusive. Most of the items sold out in one day.

FARGO, N.D. — Nearly four years after retiring the Fighting Sioux nickname following criticism from Native Americans, the University of North Dakota briefly found itself back in the business of selling merchandise with a logo the NCAA had ruled hostile and abusive.

The reason is that a settlement agreement with the NCAA over the nickname required the school to keep the Fighting Sioux trademark, and the school felt the only way to do it was to market the product.

So a limited series of items known as the Dacotah Heritage Collection hit shelves last week. Most of them sold out within hours.

Interim UND President Ed Schafer said it would be better if the school did not have to sell the old gear, especially now that the school is making the transition to its new nickname, Fighting Hawks. He said the switch would not be effective if someone else obtains the trademark and floods the market with Fighting Sioux merchandise.

"You have to be able to prove that you've used that trademark in order to keep it," Schafer said. "You have to use it the same way that you have been using it."

NCAA officials did not respond to repeated email and phone messages.

The NCAA in 2005 placed UND on a list of schools with American Indian nicknames, logos and mascots that it found objectionable. UND was the last holdout on that list and filed a lawsuit to keep the name. That suit was settled in October 2007 and one of the terms involved keeping the trademark, UND spokesman Peter Johnson said.

Johnson said the university sold the license to a handful of stores to sell more than 9,000 pieces of merchandise, including more than 1,000 sweat shirts, 3,000 hats and 300 lanyards. Another rollout of limited items will likely take place later this year.

Schafer said the brisk sales that occurred mostly after word spread through social media shows both the value of the old gear and the desire by many longtime, loyal Fighting Sioux backers to ensure that history is not erased. Plus there's nothing else to buy at the moment.

"Right now people are holding on to the old one because there isn't an alternative," Schafer said. "There's nothing else there."

The school is working with a New York-based design firm to create a Fighting Hawks logo. Schafer said the agreement with SME Inc. should be finalized by Friday. In the meantime, the former North Dakota governor is downplaying some logo designs by fans and others that are circulating on the Internet.

"They all are incorporating some element of the old Fighting Sioux logo onto the Fighting Hawks," Schafer said. "And we're not going there."

[RealSNR]

Well, it's that time again. Washington professional football needs a mascot.

Do we give Ermines another run? I had an intimate connection* with UND, which I felt really good about, but our efforts were in vain, unfortunately.

Some neat ideas came out of this thread that got people talking before we decided on Ermines:

• Otters/ River Otters
• Mammoths / Wooly Mammoths
• Orcas

I still don't want to give up on Ermines. I really thought this would have made a sweet logo. Put this shit on a helmet and at midfield. ****ing gorgeous.

* - Emphasis on "had." The selection of Fighting Hawks has caused me to completely sever my longstanding emotional ties to that university

[OrtonsPiercedTaint]

Tolerance at all costs. The vice is unimportant.

[ptlyon]

Those pussy redskins don't deserve the ermines.