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Mascot issue still hot
 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor Protesters shout at a UND fan as he enters the west entrance of the National Hockey Center Nov. 2, 2001. About 100 people gathered before and during the game between the Huskies and the University of North Dakota, protesting UND’s use of the nickname “Fighting Sioux” and an American Indian head logo.
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When the University of North Dakota hockey team returns to SCSU in November, with it will follow a shadow capable of igniting a powder keg of emotions over American Indian mascots.
It’s a sure bet that more than just Husky hockey fans will take notice of the Nov. 8 and 9 series between the two teams. Last fall, students and faculty staged a protest in front of the National Hockey Center when UND brought its “Fighting Sioux” logo and jerseys to SCSU.
Sudie Hofmann, chair of the Department of Human Relations and Multicultural Education, helped coordinate last year’s protest.
“It went very well,” Hofmann said. “We did one at the hockey game and one at the basketball game, and we had support from people around the state.”
Hofmann said people from Minneapolis and even as far away as Mankato and Duluth came to that protest.
“Most people in the St. Cloud area don’t have many friends who are American Indians,” she said. “They don’t know much about the history in this country, and to them it’s just a sporting event. But when they can make the link the dehumanization that occurs when universities use these mascots or nicknames, that it does not help the children who go to these games understand important parts of U.S. history like the Trail of Tears (and) broken treaties.
“They have no concept of what that real history is; their image of American Indians is from a hockey game or a Disney cartoon.”
Rumors
Tempers flared on campus during the fall because of a rumor that SCSU President Roy Saigo had asked UND to leave its mascot and jerseys at home, and that UND had refused. As the rumor proved false, UND issued a statement which said the school had received no such query from SCSU, and if UND had been asked it would have at least considered the request.
Lisa Helmin Foss, SCSU director of marketing and communications, speculated about the rumor’s origin, “I’m not sure where that came from. It spread pretty fast…I think part of it came from our president’s interest in the issue. I think another part of it probably came from the students and faculty who feel strongly on the issue and who worked very hard to organize an informational protest.”
Foss added that the rumor was decidedly false.
“That conversation never happened,” she said, “and there is no intention of that conversation ever happening. University of North Dakota is free to wear their jerseys and we will not be making such a request.”
While SCSU and UND never did talk, Saigo did work to bring the mascot issue to the attention of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
“(Saigo) has had policy discussions at the MnSCU and NCAA level regarding all mascots,” Foss said. “He really approaches it from that standpoint. It’s not a discussion or a disagreement between St. Cloud State and the University of North Dakota.
“He has no intentions of discussing the issue one-on-one with an individual university. He is much more interested in looking at it from a policy level that the NCAA should focus on and that MnSCU should focus on.”
Foss said that Saigo has brought the issue to the Minority Interests and Opportunities Committee, a subgroup of the NCAA. The group is now studying the issue and is due to make a recommendation to the NCAA next month regarding a policy change, which Foss said SCSU would support.
Until then, UND will be able to bring any uniform to SCSU sporting events.
“Obviously we have individuals on our campus who feel very strongly about the issue,” Foss said. “The president does have an opinion on the issue, and if the University of North Dakota themselves decide that they respect that concern and decide to wear an alternate jersey, that would be very much appreciated.”
UND’s stance
But according to Dan Benson, athletic media relations director at UND, the university has never made uniform or jersey changes in the past. Benson said he did not know if the school would wear different uniforms if asked, but he said that it had never happened before.
“In the past, we have not adjusted our uniforms based upon other institutions’ beliefs,” he said. “However, whether or not we would, would be up to the team, our athletic administration and our university administration.”
Benson also said that for the moment, UND does not have any plans to change its “Fighting Sioux” mascot.
“At this time the decision has been made through the state and the university that we will continue with the current nickname and logo,” he said, “and there’s no immediate plan to change it.”
He added that UND respects the opinions of other universities regarding logos and mascots. UND understands that people’s opinions on the issue will vary, he said.
“If (at SCSU) we’re wearing the jerseys that some people don’t care for, we understand that there may be signs or comments made,” Benson said. “We understand that, because it’s been something that’s happened before. We’ll just continue to go about our business and respect what other people’s different views are.
“At the same time, we would hope that other institutions would respect our views on our own mascot.”
Protests possible
If UND brings “Fighting Sioux” jerseys to SCSU as seems probable, high local interest in the mascot issue makes another protest a real possibility.
This year, Hofmann said the idea of assembling protesters at an SCSU-UND hockey game, a basketball game, or both, is again being explored.
“There’s been strong support for this,” she said. “There’s been a lot of coalition building on each campus.”
In addition to the American Indian Center, Hofmann said student groups involved with social justice, racism, heterosexism and gender violence have rallied around the mascot issue on college campuses across the Midwest.
“It really becomes a community issue,” she said, “and St. Cloud is really out in the forefront on this issue. Because of what students and faculty and administrators have done on the issue, we’ve received national attention. We’ve really helped people understand what this issue is and we’ve linked it to other issues of social justice.”
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