People on social media are having a field day with the story. Of course my friend Donna has had a field day as well. True to form, she has made snarky an art form and that's awesome.
Both lists are organized alphabetically and each submission is listed separately, contributing to the length of the documents.I am concerned when I read the that process isn't a popularity contest. What the hell are we doing then? Wouldn't you pick the most popular nickname or simply "North Dakota".
The most-submitted option for consideration appears to be North Dakota, the name the university has used since retiring the Fighting Sioux nickname in 2012. Other popular submissions on the list of considered submissions included the Flickertails, NoDaks and the North Stars.
Johnson noted the process is not a popularity contest based on the number of times a name was submitted. (Grand Forks Herald)
This is how UND is going to end up with a stupid nickname that no one will be able to get behind. Are we going to end up picking from three crappy nickname ideas or are we going to be able to pick one of the three most popular? This is also how we are going to end up with a stupid nickname like Sundogs. I will be following this issue very closely. Thoughts?
I hope @Spectator is right. Because the alternative could be disastrous for UND. Case in point: A while back Marquette (big basketball school in Milwaukee, WI) found itself in similar situation with UND. They were then known as the Golden Warriors. The NCAA started banging down their door and they decided to search for a new nickname. Without consulting alumni or students (and maybe even without staff input) the search committee and the AD changed the name to the "Gold." Well, after losing A LOT of money from alumni and almost unanimous vitriol towards the change, the board realized that the alumni and students (aka future alumni) might just be too important to tick off. They went back to the drawing board and they now are known as the Golden Eagles.
ReplyDeleteI think the popular opinion should be exclusively used with ideas submitted by alumni, students, and UND staff getting the overriding preference. We wouldn't want outside agendas to have any undue influence over the nickname.
I still don't think just "North Dakota" or "University of North Dakota" will end up winning the nickname contest. I do believe that many people will get ticked off no matter what their decision is. The question is: Does UND go with what the majority wants or does UND allow the minority to dictate the majority?
Uh. What the heck happened to the two other comments?
ReplyDeleteFlickertail=ground squirrel=rodent =Yikes gopher--SURELY NOT!
ReplyDeleteVizoroo, I would be very surprised if UND ended up being the Flickertails. Even President Kelly has said that this won't happen.
ReplyDelete