2008 Woodie Awards
Honorary award turned down due to sports logo
Author refuses award in a letter to President Kupchella
Ryan Johnson
Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: News
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She never expected that the issue would cause her to make another tough decision, though. "It's been something that I thought would be changed by now," she said. "I honestly never thought it would continue this long."
The divisive nature of the logo controversy makes it even more damaging to American Indian members of the community, she says. "A lot of people have trouble understanding how a symbol like this operates to demean Native people," she said.
She knows this isn't an intentional byproduct of the nickname, but it's still something she thinks needs to be changed. "It just misrepresents the true spirit of the university which I've always experienced as a real oasis of commitment to education and enlightenment," she said.
She pointed out that basically no other group of people are used to portray athletic symbols anymore. "It's really a minor thing to change the name of a sports team in the face of demeaning a group of people," she said. "It's a dubious honor to be used the way bison are."
Born in Little Falls, Minn., Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, N.D. She attended Dartmouth College and received an M.A. from the John Hopkins University, but had several relatives that attended UND.
The divisive nature of the logo controversy makes it even more damaging to American Indian members of the community, she says. "A lot of people have trouble understanding how a symbol like this operates to demean Native people," she said.
She knows this isn't an intentional byproduct of the nickname, but it's still something she thinks needs to be changed. "It just misrepresents the true spirit of the university which I've always experienced as a real oasis of commitment to education and enlightenment," she said.
She pointed out that basically no other group of people are used to portray athletic symbols anymore. "It's really a minor thing to change the name of a sports team in the face of demeaning a group of people," she said. "It's a dubious honor to be used the way bison are."
Born in Little Falls, Minn., Erdrich grew up in Wahpeton, N.D. She attended Dartmouth College and received an M.A. from the John Hopkins University, but had several relatives that attended UND.
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