Disagreement arises about taking stances
More controversy arose from a Sept. 22 ad in the Grand Forks Herald
Ryan Johnson
Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
A Sept. 22 advertisement in the Grand Forks Herald has caused administrators to look at departments and organizations on campus taking official stances about issues, most specifically the controversy surrounding the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.
UND Affirmative Action Officer Sally Page sent an internal memorandum raising concerns that these public opinions on a contentious issue could create a "chilling effect," causing students who disagree with the stance feeling isolated in these programs.
The ad, featuring a girl holding a sign saying "I am not a logo" superimposed over an image of Sitting Bull, included a list of 27 university organizations, programs, and departments that have stated opposition to the continued use of the Sioux moniker.
Taking stances
The reaction to the advertisement continued last week when Vice President for Student and Outreach Services Bob Boyd sent a letter to the only program under his jurisdiction that had included their name in the list.
Boyd stated in the Oct. 6 letter to Leigh Jeanotte, director of the American Indian Student Services Center, that he was surprised to see the name of the organization included because of an agreement over a year ago that the units would not take official stances on issues.
The reasons for this agreement, he says, are simply due to a lack of a universal method of deciding on these stances. "We could not as a Student and Outreach Services unit determine a process to legitimize an individual unit to speak on controversial issues," he said. "None of the units is independent."
The units report to Boyd, who then reports to President Kupchella, Boyd explained. Because of this chain of command, no one group was considered to be able to take a stance by themselves.
Another factor in his decision to ask for the removal of the name, he says, is ensuring that federally funded programs that currently exist at UND will not be put in danger. "I was convinced that such activity without authorization can in fact potentially jeopardize programs that are federally funded," he said. "I was concerned that we might potentially place in jeopardy the programs that we have designed for Native American students."
UND Affirmative Action Officer Sally Page sent an internal memorandum raising concerns that these public opinions on a contentious issue could create a "chilling effect," causing students who disagree with the stance feeling isolated in these programs.
The ad, featuring a girl holding a sign saying "I am not a logo" superimposed over an image of Sitting Bull, included a list of 27 university organizations, programs, and departments that have stated opposition to the continued use of the Sioux moniker.
Taking stances
The reaction to the advertisement continued last week when Vice President for Student and Outreach Services Bob Boyd sent a letter to the only program under his jurisdiction that had included their name in the list.
Boyd stated in the Oct. 6 letter to Leigh Jeanotte, director of the American Indian Student Services Center, that he was surprised to see the name of the organization included because of an agreement over a year ago that the units would not take official stances on issues.
The reasons for this agreement, he says, are simply due to a lack of a universal method of deciding on these stances. "We could not as a Student and Outreach Services unit determine a process to legitimize an individual unit to speak on controversial issues," he said. "None of the units is independent."
The units report to Boyd, who then reports to President Kupchella, Boyd explained. Because of this chain of command, no one group was considered to be able to take a stance by themselves.
Another factor in his decision to ask for the removal of the name, he says, is ensuring that federally funded programs that currently exist at UND will not be put in danger. "I was convinced that such activity without authorization can in fact potentially jeopardize programs that are federally funded," he said. "I was concerned that we might potentially place in jeopardy the programs that we have designed for Native American students."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
JL
posted 10/15/07 @ 4:18 PM CST
The often used statistics by President Kupchella and University officials:
"UND currently administers 26 American Indian programs and enrolls 450 American Indian students from throughout the United States"
This quote is often and liberally used in the lawsuit literature - and almost any literature related to the name change. (Continued…)
Post a Comment