In talking to the head of the Alumni Department during the Final Five and the biggest loser if UND is sanctioned by the NCAA would be the woman’s hockey team which will probably be eligible for a home series during the NCAA tourney. If UND went back on the NCAA list the UND Woman's Hockey team would probably have to travel on the road if they made the NCAA tourney. That is something to think about because they were very close to making it the NCAA playoff this season and with the addition of a few recruits coming in this fall this team could be a title contender or at least in the mix.
Nothing has changed.Every since Dr. Robert O. Kelley was hired on as the president of the University of North Dakota I have been less than impressed with his leadership, I have yet to see him show any leadership qualities that I find redeeming. What the heck did the hiring athority like in this guy that made them decide that he was their guy?
That’s the message UND President Robert Kelley received today from the NCAA, after Kelley queried the association on where things stand.
In a letter dated Friday, Kelley asked for “clarification of the NCAA’s position regarding the relationship between the University of North Dakota and the NCAA (with specific reference to the 2007 settlement agreement).”
Kelley also asked “whether the NCAA is willing to revisit, in any aspect, the terms of the agreement,” given that the university “will be bound by state law” after Aug. 1 when a new state law requiring retention of the name and logo takes effect.
In a response dated and received today, Bernard Franklin, NCAA vice president of membership and student-athlete affairs, said the association’s position remains firm.
“The NCAA’s position regarding its relationship with the State of North Dakota on this issue is set forth in the parties’ binding settlement agreement signed Oct. 26, 2007,” Franklin wrote.
“In that document, it was agreed that the policy will apply to North Dakota unless North Dakota either (1) secures namesake approval by Nov. 30, 2010, or (2) transitions away from the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo before Aug. 15, 2011.”
The state “did not obtain necessary support from the identified Sioux tribes,” he noted, and Kelley’s letter on Friday “makes clear that North Dakota will not transition from the current nickname and logo.”
Consequently, “North Dakota will be subject to the provisions of the policy,” Franklin wrote.
Those provisions include sanctions barring UND teams from hosting post-season tournaments or wearing proscribed attire during such tournaments.
The new North Dakota law “cannot change the NCAA policy nor alter the contracted terms of the agreement,” Franklin wrote.[Click to view]
I would not be an understatement to say that I am uninspired by Dr. Kelley’s leadership, to date he has done nothing but act as if he was above the fray, as if to say, I didn’t create this mess, please help me. In reading this article as well as the one from last Friday, it looks like Kelley is seeking a life line from the NCAA… Be a leader... Or get the heck out of the way. You work for the people of North Dakota but also the University of North Dakota, that means you're public servant and you answer to the people of North Dakota first.
