North Dakota Rebrands Itself

Sioux No More, At Least Not Officially

CHN Staff Report

New uniforms won't come until later in the year, although the women's team already unveiled its redesign.

North Dakota's athletic programs turned a new page as of January 1, the culmination of a lengthy battle with the NCAA to keep its nickname. And while the Fighting Sioux moniker is still likely to live on, unofficially, the school is no longer allowed to use the name or its logo.

The fight has gone on for years, starting with when the NCAA targeted a number of schools for using Native American nicknames and logos. Some schools won approval from local tribes, thus allowing them to keep the name. Most of those that were targeted, have long since changed them.

The NCAA jurisdiction only reached to NCAA-sponsored events, but after a variety of legal and political maneuverings, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education finally ordered the university to retire the nickname and logo.

As of now, North Dakota's varsity athletics teams will operate without an official nickname or corresponding logo until at least Jan. 1, 2015, as mandated by the North Dakota State Legislature.

The following are among the areas immediately affected:

* The Fighting Sioux Club, the official fundraising arm for UND Athletics, has been renamed the North Dakota Champions Club.

* Sioux Crew, which promotes student involvement and attendance at UND Athletics events, has been renamed NoDak Nation.

* The Sioux Boosters club has been renamed the UND Boosters, and the weekly fan luncheons have been renamed the UND Fan Luncheon.

* The Fighting Sioux Sports Network (television) has been renamed the UND Sports Network, and the Fighting Sioux Radio Network has been renamed the UND Radio Network.

* UND's weekly television show, Sioux Sports Extra, has been renamed UND Sports Extra, while the weekly Fighting Sioux Coaches Show (radio) has been renamed the UND Coaches Show.

* All television and radio network opening and closing billboards have been revised to reflect the changes.

* UND Athletics’ official website, FightingSioux.com, has been renamed UNDSports.com.

