Sioux sue?

[RichH]

http://www.uscho.com/news/id,12690/NorthDakotaToFileLawsuitAgainstNCAA.html

Yeah, I know you're all capable of finding this through other channels, but I wanted to start a thread with this subject.

[RichH]

A little web-rummaging led me to this:

http://www.undalumni.org/NCAALitigationFund.htm

Alright!  Got any extra cash?  Why direct your donations to things like disease research, disaster relief, education, or even athletic equipment and facilities when you can donate to this??

Wheee...replying to my own message.

[KeithK]

[quote RichH]Alright!  Got any extra cash?  Why direct your donations to things like disease research, disaster relief, education, or even athletic equipment and facilities when you can donate to this??[/quote]The same reason you donate to any cause - because you think it's important and a worthwhile expenditure.  I doubt most people who would contribute to this cause will dollar for dollar deduct the amount from money that they would have donated to cancer research.

[Pete Godenschwager]

Just got this email. Looks like W&M won't take the same course of action as UND.  So, NCAA, you've won.  Nobody will be forced to face the horror of seeing feathers in the W&M athletics logo.

October 10, 2006


Dear Fellow Members of the William & Mary Community:

I write concerning the National Collegiate Athletic Association's dispute with the College over our nickname and logo.

During the past several months, the NCAA has reviewed William & Mary's athletic insignia to determine whether they constitute a violation of Association standards. On the more important front, the Committee concluded that the College's use of the term "Tribe" reflects our community's sense of shared commitment and common purpose. Accordingly, it will remain our nickname. The presence of two feathers on the logo, though, was ruled potentially "hostile and abusive." We appealed that determination. The decision was sustained and has become final. We must now decide whether to institute legal action against the NCAA or begin the process of altering our logo.

I am compelled to say, at the outset, how powerfully ironic it is for the College of William & Mary to face sanction for athletic transgression at the hands of the NCAA. The Association has applied its mascot standards in ways so patently inconsistent and arbitrary as to demean the entire undertaking. Beyond this, William & Mary is widely acknowledged to be a principal exemplar of the NCAA's purported, if unrealized, ideals.

Not only are our athletic programs intensely competitive, but according to the Association's own Academic Progress Reports, the College ranks fifth among all institutions of higher learning in scholastic excellence. Each year, we graduate approximately 95% of our senior student athletes.  During the past decade, two William and Mary athletes have been named Rhodes Scholars and 42 elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa, the national honorary society founded at the College in 1776. Meanwhile, across the country, in the face of massive academic underperformance, embarrassing misbehaviors on and off the field, and grotesque commercialization of intercollegiate athletics, the NCAA has proven hapless, or worse. It is galling that a university with such a consistent and compelling record of doing things the right way is threatened with punishment by an organization whose house, simply put, is not in order.

Still, in consultation with our Board of Visitors, I have determined that I am unwilling to sue the NCAA to further press our claims. There are three reasons for my decision. I'll explain them in order.

First, failing to adhere to the NCAA logo ruling would raise the substantial possibility that William & Mary athletes would be foreclosed from competing at the level their attainments and preparations merit. Two years ago, for example, we hosted a thrilling semifinal national championship football game against James Madison University. At present, we are barred from welcoming such a competition to Williamsburg -- in football or any other sport. I believe it is our obligation to open doors of opportunity and challenge for our students, not to close them. I will not make our athletes pay for our broader disagreements with a governing association. We have also consulted with our coaches and student athletic advisory council on the matter. They are of the same mind.

Second, given the well-known challenges that this and other universities face -- in assuring access to world-class education, in supporting the research and teaching efforts of our faculties, and in financing and constructing twenty-first-century laboratories and facilities -- I am loath to divert further energies and resources to an expensive and perhaps multi-faceted lawsuit over an athletic logo. Governing requires the setting of priorities. And our fiercest challenges reside at the core of our mission. I know, of course, that more than one member of our understandably disgruntled community would likely be willing to help finance litigation against the NCAA. Those dollars are better spent in scholarship programs.

Third, the College of William & Mary is one of the most remarkable universities in the world. It was a national treasure even before there was a nation to treasure it. I am unwilling to allow it to become the symbol and lodestar for a prolonged struggle over Native American imagery that will likely be miscast and misunderstood -- to the detriment of the institution. Our challenge is greatness. Our defining purpose is rooted in the highest ideals of human progress, achievement, service, and dignity. Those are the hallmarks of the College of William & Mary. They will remain so.

I know this decision will disappoint some among us. I am confident, however, that it is the correct course for the College. We are required to hold fast to our values whether the NCAA does so or not. In the weeks ahead, we will begin an inclusive process to consider options for an altered university logo. I invite you to participate. And I am immensely grateful for your efforts and energies on behalf of the College.

Go Tribe. Hark upon the gale.

Sincerely,


Gene R. Nichol
President
College of William & Mary

[ugarte]

Dear Fellow Members of the William & Mary Community:

I wish they had written "Dear Members of the Tribe." Then maybe they could have resolved this dilemma:

On the more important front, the Committee concluded that the College's use of the term "Tribe" reflects our community's sense of shared commitment and common purpose. Accordingly, it will remain our nickname. The presence of two feathers on the logo, though, was ruled potentially "hostile and abusive."

by changing the logo to, say, tfillin, a circumsized penis or a change purse full of pennies.

[jtwcornell91]

A little wordy, but all in all a reasonable response.  In a nutshell, they find the ruling unreasonable, but understand that going to court over an athletic logo is silly.  A nice contrast with the bombastic pomposity coming from UND's president.  Of course, W&M doesn't have to deal with the postmortem demands of a neo-nazi benefactor...

[Ben Rocky '04]

Thank god some one else views this how I do.

[KeithK]

[quote jtwcornell91]In a nutshell, they find the ruling unreasonable, but understand that going to court over an athletic logo is silly.[/quote]It's equally silly for the NCAA to prevent a team from participating in or hosting tournaments because of a logo. So in your opinion the right thing to do is to just give in to the NCAA's institutional silliness?

[Pete Godenschwager]

[quote KeithK][quote jtwcornell91]In a nutshell, they find the ruling unreasonable, but understand that going to court over an athletic logo is silly.[/quote]It's equally silly for the NCAA to prevent a team from participating in or hosting tournaments because of a logo. So in your opinion the right thing to do is to just give in to the NCAA's institutional silliness?[/quote]

This isn't the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  Fighting silliness with more silliness is just a waste of resources.

[Ben Rocky '04]

These are educational institutions.  Wasting time and money on this is practically criminal.  On the same note, the NCAA wasting time and money on this is ridiculous, when they should be regulating academics vs. athletics.  Not that they do a good job with that..........::rolleyes::

[Omie]

I think the Sioux suing is not completely ridiculous, the NCAA has begun this political correctness crusade which is ridiculous and that also ends up costing money for UND or W&M eithear way. If they abide by the decision they incur costs in divising new nicknames, logos, and attempering their facilities (ie take away all Sioux references), while if they sue they incur legal costs (which UND alumni are paying from a separate fund since the school is not authorized to use their own funds). So suing to me just seems to have more benefits than abiding by this silly PC crusade.

[Ben Rocky '04]

Don't those alumni have something better to spend their money on?  New buildings?  More faculty?  Scholarships for needy students?

[Omie]

they are using their money and influence to advance their interests. could it be used better? probably. is it wrong or ridiculous to be used for this issue? no.

[jtwcornell91]

[quote Omie]If they abide by the decision they incur costs in divising new nicknames, logos, and attempering their facilities (ie take away all Sioux references),[/quote]

Given that they put all of those little logos in REA so they could make this argument, it gets zero sympathy from me.

[mtmack25]

This just in:

NCAA DETERMINES THAT THE COLOR RED IS TOO COMMUNIST, BEARS ARE TOO FRIGHTENING.

(Or insert some other ridiculous ruling)  

What do you as an alumnus and fan do?

Maybe you can empathize with UND a little.  Their reaction might not be the most appropriate, but it is their tradition that is being attacked.