As part of UND's effort to transition away from the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, a senior UND athletics official has circulated an email to officials of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and other organizations, advising them that UND will discontinue using the name and logo as of Jan. 1.
"As of that date, please only refer to our athletic teams as the University of North Dakota and please use the interlocking ND logo as the official logo of the UND Athletics Department," Sean Johnson, senior associate athletics director, wrote in the email, which was circulated early this morning.
"If you could pass this along to all conference membership, it would be greatly appreciated," he wrote.
The email went to Bruce McLeod, commissioner of the WCHA, as well as leaders of the Great West, Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences, in which one or more UNDS teams compete.
Johnson was not immediately available for comment on the email or the decision to make Jan. 1 the effective date for asking other schools to stop referring to UND teams as the Fighting Sioux.
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The State Board of Higher Education has directed UND to have the transition substantially completed by the end of the year, but UND officials have said that licensing and other contractual agreements will delay some steps.
UND Athletics Director Brian Faison has said that the UND men's hockey team would continue taking to the ice in Fighting Sioux jerseys at least until mid-February, when replacement jerseys are expected to be available.
Peter Johnson, executive associate vice president and a spokesman for UND President Robert Kelley, said that he had not seen the email but understood it to be "part of our transition process."
"We're taking a series of actions to comply with the directive of the state board," he said. "There will be more of these. This is just putting our conference friends on notice that this is happening."
Reach Haga at (701) 780-1102; (800) 477-6572, ext. 102; or send email to chaga@gfherald.com .
