Grand Forks Herald: Don't saddle next president with UND nickname issue

Today, Tom Dennis of the Grand Forks Herald has posted a pretty interesting article. I think Dennis makes some really good points. Whether we like it or not, this issue eventually needs to be solved. UND President Kelley needs to decide if UND is going to be simply North Dakota or one of the five nickname choices.

That being said, Kelley needs to involve the students, alumni and stakeholders in this decision. If not, this is going to fester long after he is gone. The key word is involved.
Per Tom Dennis of the Herald:

On Saturday, a group of protesters gathered at University Park in Grand Forks, and among their calls was for Kelley to immediately resign. The fact that Kelley is retiring next year isn't good enough, they said. Because the final round of nickname decisions should be made by Kelley's successor—not Kelley himself.

We disagree. Moreover, we think Kelley absolutely is the right person to be making nickname decisions these days—not because he's Robert Kelley, but because he's the longstanding and experienced president of UND.

And that's the executive who should be making nickname calls at this point.

In contrast, the next president will be a beginner in all things UND.

And more than any other issue at UND, the nickname issue is one that a beginner simply should not decide. Because in order to make smart decisions on the nickname—one of the most complicated and divisive issues in the history of the state—you've got to have a full understanding of the decades-long background of the issue.