Something that Grand Forks has been well known for is our beloved University of North Dakota. Narrowing in even further on the university’s history, the Sioux logo and nickname have been a pivotal piece in a lot of conversations around the community.

It’s even more of a conversation piece now that we have adopted a new name and logo. The first couple of years have come and left while UND continues to struggle with their rebranding scheme of forcefully marketing the logo and nickname on everyone, including those that just aren’t quite ready yet.

This ideology that they seem to have of if they push it enough, more people will assimilate and forget the Fighting Sioux nickname, is the complete backward way to go about it. The students don’t want to let it die, and nor does the community - especially, those that were born and raised in this area. And there’s more than one reason why.

The Sioux nickname that UND had for so many years, stood for something important. With the logo, came a tradition that demanded excellence and prosperity. We see it displayed in full force by our hockey program. As a young kid growing up in this community, I had watched just about every hockey game that UND played in the Ralph Engelstad Arena as the Fighting Sioux. I had gone to a copious amount of basketball and football games as well.

The main thing I always remember was that every single event started with a video that focused on the brave and determined nature of the Sioux warriors, and how they reigned supreme in the Dakotas. Being in grade school and middle school while watching the video, I related the nickname and logo to greatness and superiority, instead of racism and violence. I saw the Sioux people as a strong, proud, and resilient nation.

The University of Minnesota claims their hockey team to be “pride on ice,” but on the contrary, I have always felt the real pride on ice were the players that gracefully displayed a symbol and reminder of determined and persistent people. I know I’m not alone in those feelings.

We were lucky to be able to embrace the logo and nickname while we had it. I wanted to wear that uniform one day. I wanted to play for this University and represent the Sioux nickname and tradition by competing for my absolute hardest and being an honorable person on and off the field of play.

Then came the sanctions.

The NCAA slapped 19 schools with sanctions for offensive and rude logos. UND was one of them. UND fought the sanctions to keep the nickname and logo for seven years before retiring it. The Sioux tradition of resilience was in full display in those seven years that we had come to adapt to our own lives.

Then came the process of picking a new nickname and logo. The university continued their streak of keeping the community and wanted input from everyone. The popular decision was to just subtract the entire process altogether and continue the tradition of the interlocking ND logo while being called simply by the university’s name. They threw out that option entirely, even though it was the most popular decision by a wide margin.

This was their first mistake.

So we decided after a long and daunting voting process to go with the fighting hawks. It was the new majority vote besides the previous substantial vote to just not have a logo or nickname. The Sioux logo had been designed by a Native American man, who was of local talent. The logo had the aesthetic value of local input that everyone in the community all adored. When the university went out to search for a new logo to represent its athletics, they didn’t even bother asking the artist that created the cherished Sioux logo.

This is where everything took a turn for the worst.

While the entire search for a new name and symbol had included input from everyone that was to be potentially representing the new brand, they decided to cut the entire process at the most important time. It came down to deciding the logo, and they put it in the hands of a small committee of people. Nobody was allowed to see the possible choices. In the meantime, locals came up with their own renditions that gained popularity and respect that everyone could have deemed a suitable substitute.

This decision is relative to dumping an open wound into a large pile of salt.

While locals came up with their ideas, their voices were never heard. The renderings they came up with were unique, inspiring, and detail oriented. But, no local was to have their hat in the ring. The university outsourced the logo picking process to companies from outside of North Dakota. People who knew nothing of the tradition of excellence were to develop a piece that would represent an institution that was once held to high standards and honor. This idea made absolutely no sense.

Then came the public outcry that was never taken into consideration.

The university went on with their rebranding scheme to display, sell, and build a new tradition with a logo that very few found appealing. UND continued to fund their efforts by purchasing and distributing anything and everything with the hawk logo. Structural windows gained a new decoration that hadn’t even been dawned with the Sioux logo. Sports teams started to fear for their future at the university as they were forced to plea for a committee to deem their team worthwhile.

Then came the chopping block.

UND decided to cut the baseball team and attempted to cut the golf team which received enough funding from outside supporters to remain. Then they continued on and made their biggest mistake of all. They cut the women’s hockey team without informing them before they announced it. They cut men’s and women’s swimming and diving. Student-athletes lost their respective livelihoods.

What kind of tradition has this new logo and nickname come to demand or stand for to the community?