UND's hopes to join the Summit League athletic conference are the reason the State Board of Higher Education moved the deadline for resolving the university's Fighting Sioux nickname last week, a deadline many consider impossible.
Board member Grant Shaft said he recommended the deadline after he'd spoken with league Commissioner Tom Douple and UND Athletics Director Brian Faison, who, he said, made it clear the league is UND's best conference option.
The Herald spoke with Faison on Friday to hear why he thought affiliation with the mostly Midwest-based league is so important.
The board's decision balancing the desire to give nickname supporters some chance and to let UND apply for league membership very soon seems to put the two issues on equal footing. Yet, UND's most popular sports programs, hockey, which has the strongest connection to the nickname, and football, wouldn't be affected. The league doesn't hold tournaments for those sports.
Faison also talked about reaction to the nickname from fans and alumni. Some are very angry, but he seemed hopeful they will come around.
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Nickname supporters will have until Oct. 1 to secure a 30-year nickname agreement with the state's two Sioux tribes. Douple has said he wouldn't consider UND's application until the issue is fully resolved. He made no promises that UND would get in either.
Q. Why do you think the Summit League is ideal?
A. It would be a strong league for us in terms of renewing rivalries from the North Central Conference days and better travel distances. We want to be in a stable conference that has automatic qualifiers, important when we come out of the Division I transition.
Our teams, if they win the conference championship, would get the automatic qualifier to be in the NCAA tournament. Look at North Dakota State. That's happened with them in volleyball and men's basketball and also softball just recently. That's where we want to be.
Within the league, there are similarities between several of the institutions as well.
Institutions are always looking to associate with like institutions. When you look at us and North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State, there are similarities in the size of the institutions. Southern Utah would be similar in the size and scope of their mission.
There's a comfort level with that.
Q. There aren't other leagues that fit the description?
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A. Big Sky would be of interest, as well, to accommodate our football program. But there's been no indication of interest in Big Sky in looking at expansion.
Q. Grant talked about the "horrendous" travel costs that UND athletics pays. What would the savings be with the Summit League?
A. I'm not sure -- it would depend on where we're playing in a given year in the league, as well -- but clearly, there would be significant savings.
We'll be in the Great West Conference next year. We'll go from New Jersey to the southern tip of Texas to Utah. That's a pretty good wide range there.
The other thing is the guarantees that we have to pay out. That's proven to be very significant for us to secure quality Division I home schedules.
Q. Can you give a rough percentage estimate?
A. This year our travel impact was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 percent over what had been anticipated. Part of that is the cost of travel spiked dramatically in the fall with gas prices.
If we were fortunate enough to get into the Summit conference, I would think we're looking at savings of at least 25 percent. It probably could go higher than that.
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Q. Six other schools have applied to the league. What chances do you think UND has?
A. I have no idea. I don't know what schools are involved. They wouldn't share that with us.
The ultimate decision in the conference comes from the presidents. They'll be the ones that will make the final decisions. All I know is we've got to put ourselves in a position that we have a conference that has stability, that has automatic qualifiers.
Q. If it's a risk you don't really have a handle on, why get rid of this tradition, this nickname?
A. The process is still there, albeit with a much shorter timeline and much more difficult proposition to see through. But there's still the possibility that the nickname and logo could be maintained. From that standpoint, it's not done.
From a timeline perspective, there's no way to know where we're going to be or what's going to happen with conference affiliation. There's always a risk in whatever we do and whatever direction we go. We just have to weigh those risks and do what's best for the total program and shore up everything we can to make sure we're competitive across the board.
Q. How do you think hockey fans will react?
A. I don't think there's any question that, for some of our hockey fans, this is a very emotional issue, and it'll take some time to accept the fact, if there has to be a change.
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What I hope is, at the end of the day, they're going to support the hockey program and the university. We're going to continue to compete and put the best program we can out on the ice, and we hope the fans will continue to support the student athletes and the coaches.
Q. How about fan support for football? There's a possibility the league could sponsor football?
A. It could.
Currently, South Dakota State and North Dakota State are in the Missouri Valley Conference for football. I have no doubt, after they just added those two, that they're not thinking about expansion at this point. But there has been some talk that they might and it makes sense for us to be in a position, and South Dakota, as well, to have an opportunity if they were interested. It's a great league.
Or maybe down the road the Summit League would decide to sponsor the sport if you've got enough teams in there.
Q. Basketball would seem to benefit the most from league affiliation. What do you hope will happen?
A. That, in the first year of full NCAA eligibility, they win the conference and are in the NCAA tournament.
Q. But how competitive is UND now compared with those in the league?
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A. We're gaining. We're five years behind North Dakota State, for example. That's not insignificant, but I think we saw strides this year with that freshman class that was redshirted this year. That's going to be exciting to see them develop.
Q. Do you think alumni would react the same way you hope hockey fans would react? That is they'd realize their real love is UND and not the nickname?
A. People are going to be upset, and they're going to be disappointed. We understand that and we'll work with that. At the end of the day, we hope they'll be able to put that aside and continue to support the university.
Q. How will you communicate with upset alumni?
A. Part of the communication process is to listen to their concerns -- and their anger -- and then come back again to where the university's going and why this is all part of a bigger process for the institution.
The first thing is listening and, last night and all day today, that's what I've been doing, listening and trying to answer questions as best we can and continue to go back to the core, which is about the university.
Q. Do they feel better after talking to you?
A. It's human nature. There are some who will not get over this very easily. There are others who will eventually get over their frustrations or concerns or disappointments and be supportive. And there are others who are disappointed and realized this was bound to happen, and they want to move forward and do what they can to help us. You see all that.
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Q. How will merchandise sales be affected in the transition where you're getting rid of a beloved nickname but don't have anything else to offer as an alternative?
A. We'll have to see. There's no question the nickname and logo are extremely popular. It'll be a challenge.
Certainly, the potential is there for some impact, but right now that'd be pure speculation. I just can't answer that question.
Q. What would it cost to change the nickname on the uniforms? Where would the money come from?
A. It would have to come from our budget. This would be conjecture but I would guess it'd be well in excess of $100,000. Some of our uniforms don't have the logo on them, but many do, so it's hard to come up with an exact number.
That's just uniforms. If you look at the settlement, there are all kinds of things you have to have with your facilities if you have Sioux representation or imagery. We'll have to look at those facilities, as well.
(The settlement is between the state and the NCAA. It requires most imagery to go, if UND can't win tribal approval for the nickname.)
Q. And Ralph Engelstad Arena?
A. It would be up to the institution -- it wouldn't be up to the REA -- to effect those changes. Whatever those would happen to be, it would be on us the institution to address. There's a comfort level with that.
Q. There aren't other leagues that fit the description?
A. Big Sky would be of interest as well to accommodate our football program. But there's been no indication of interest in Big Sky in looking at expansion.
Q. Grant talked about the "horrendous" travel costs that UND athletics pays. What would the savings be with the Summit League?
A. I'm not sure -- It would depend on where we're playing in a given year in the league as well. -- but clearly there would be significant savings.
We'll be in the Great West Conference next year. We'll go from New Jersey to the southern tip of Texas to Utah. That's a pretty good wide range there.
The other thing is the guarantees that we have to pay out. That's proven to be very significant for us to secure quality Division I home schedules.
Q. Can you give a rough percentage estimate?
A. This year our travel impact was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 percent over what had been anticipated. Part of that is the cost of travel spiked dramatically in the fall with gas prices.
If we were fortunate enough to get into the Summit conference, I would think we're looking at savings of at least 25 percent. It probably could go higher than that.
Q. Six other schools have applied to the league. What chances do you think UND has?
A. I have no idea. I don't know what schools are involved. They wouldn't share that with us.
The ultimate decision in the conference comes from the presidents. They'll be the ones that will make the final decisions. All I know is we've got to put ourselves in a position that we have a conference that has stability, that has automatic qualifiers.
Q. If it's a risk you don't really have a handle on, why get rid of this tradition, this nickname?
A. The process is still there albeit with a much shorter timeline and much more difficult proposition to see through. But there's still the possibility that the nickname and logo could be maintained. From that stand point, it's not done.
From a timeline perspective, there's no way to know where we're going to be or what's going to happen with conference affiliation. There's always a risk in whatever we do and whatever direction we go. We just have to weigh those risks and do what's best for the total program and shore up everything we can to make sure we're competitive across the board.
Q. How do you think hockey fans will react?
A. I don't think there's any question that, for some of our hockey fans, this is a very emotional issue and it'll take some time to accept the fact, if there has to be a change.
What I hope is, at the end of the day, they're going to support the hockey program and the university. We're going to continue to compete and put the best program we can out on the ice, and we hope the fans will continue to support the student athletes and the coaches.
Q. How about fan support for football? There's a possibility the league could sponsor football?
A. It could.
Currently, South Dakota State and North Dakota State are in the Missouri Valley Conference for football. I have no doubt, after they just added those two, that they're not thinking about expansion at this point. But there has been some talk that they might and it makes sense for us to be in a position, and South Dakota as well, to have an opportunity if they were interested. It's a great league.
Or maybe down the road the Summit League would decide to sponsor the sport if you've got enough teams in there.
Q. Basketball would seem to benefit the most from league affiliation. What do you hope will happen?
A. That, in the first year of full NCAA eligibility, they win the conference and are in the NCAA tournament.
Q. But how competitive is UND now compared to those in the league?
A. We're gaining. We're five years behind North Dakota State for example. That's not insignificant but I think we saw strides this year with that freshman class that was redshirted this year. That's going to be exciting to see them develop.
Q. Do you think alumni would react the same way you hope hockey fans would react? That is they'd realize their real love is UND and not the nickname?
A. People are going to be upset and they're going to be disappointed. We understand that and we'll work with that. At the end of the day, we hope they'll be able to put that aside and continue to support the university.
Q. How will you communicate with upset alumni?
A. Part of the communication process is to listen to their concerns -- and their anger -- and then come back again to where the university's going and why this is all part of a bigger process for the institution.
The first thing is listening and, last night and all day today, that's what I've been doing, listening and trying to answer questions as best we can and continue to go back to the core, which is about the university.
Q. Do they feel better after talking to you?
A. It's human nature. There are some that will not get over this very easily. There are others that will eventually get over their frustrations or concerns or disappointments and be supportive. And there are others that are disappointed and realized this was bound to happen and they want to move forward and do what they can to help us. You see all that.
Q. How will merchandise sales be affected in the transition where you're getting rid of a beloved nickname but don't have anything else to offer as an alternative?
A. We'll have to see. There's no question the nickname and logo are extremely popular. It'll be a challenge.
Certainly the potential is there for some impact, but right now that'd be pure speculation. I just can't answer that question.
Q. What would it cost to change the nickname on the uniforms? Where would the money come from?
A. It would have to come from our budget. This would be conjecture but I would guess it'd be well in excess of $100,000. Some of our uniforms don't have the logo on them but many do, so it's hard to come up with an exact number.
That's just uniforms. If you look at the settlement, there are all kinds of things you have to have with your facilities if you have Sioux representation or imagery. We'll have to look at those facilities as well.
(The settlement is between the state and the NCAA. It requires most imagery to go, if UND can't win tribal approval for the nickname.)
Q. And Ralph Engelstad Arena?
A. It would be up to the institution -- It wouldn't be up to the REA. -- to affect those changes. Whatever those would happen to be, it would be on us the institution to address.
