UND Spends $126,261.95 on Nickname Change So Far

By Eric J. Burton -- This story popped up this past weekend. I was going to comment on it earlier, but forgot.

Hey, I know the Fighting Sioux nickname is going to be changed, that's not really up for debate. However, stories like this are just going to fuel the fire on the blogspehere.

This isn't chump change and there seems to be a lot of money from UND going out to other places that aren't in the state of North Dakota.

Anna Burleson, Grand Forks Herald -- As of Dec. 30, the university had spent a total of $126,261.95 on everything the Nickname and Logo Process Recommendation Task Force required, including food, IT equipment rental, various office supplies and printing, consultants, room rentals for community forums, travel and IT systems.

The task force is considering recommending appointing another committee that, through a series of public polls, would ultimately choose a permanent name for the school. UND’s Fighting Sioux name was retired in December 2012 after the NCAA threatened sanctions.

Moving forward, university officials are hesitant to say how much they’re willing to spend on the endeavor.

According to the article a majority of the money has gone to Marie Miyashiro, president of the consulting firm Elucity Network, and Kelly O’Keefe, professor of advertising at the Virginia Commonwealth University Brandcenter.
Thoughts?