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Appeals for the NCAA to lift a ruling that bans the use of Native American symbols in sporting events have begun this week. The Aug. 5 ruling called for keeping 18 universities from using mascots, nicknames or images deemed "hostile or abusive" by the NCAA executive committee.
The NCAA granted Florida State University use of its symbol, the Seminoles, Tuesday after the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma endorsed the university's mascot, Chief Osceola. Approval from the "namesake" tribe will be considered as a primary factor in appeals, according to NCAA public affairs officer Monica Lunderman.
Other schools plan to follow suit. The University of North Dakota at Grand Forks will appeal its logo case, according to school spokesman Peter Johnson. He said the school has been sensitive to the "hostile and abusive" terms the NCAA set as guidelines.
"The biggest frustration is with the whole process," he said. "It's lumping everybody all together in one big lump."
Johnson said the school has more than 400 American Indian students and implements programs targeted at retention and development of medical careers for American Indians. He said one of the Sioux tribes has passed a resolution supporting the school, and the logo had been designed by an American Indian artist.
The ruling included prohibiting colleges or universities with any offensive mascots or names from hosting any NCAA championship competitions starting Feb. 1, 2006. Those schools would also have to cover up any references at any predetermined NCAA championship site, and any references on mascots, cheerleaders, dance teams or band uniforms would have to be removed at NCAA championships, effective Feb. 1, 2008.
The ban has been a long-time debate for many of the schools involved. University of Minnesota Professor Patricia Albers, chair of the American Indian studies program, said she began campaigning against use of American Indian-named mascots at universities she taught at 30 years ago. Albers said she hopes the ban will carry on into professional teams like the Cleveland Indians and the Washington Redskins.
"In the way sports is reported and the way people identify and relate to sports teams in a highly competitive way, there is no place for these kinds of mascots, no matter what ethnic group is involved," she said.
At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, sentiments toward keeping their mascot, Chief Illiniwek, are split fifty-fifty. For Ankit Patel, vice president of the Illini Pride student association who has attended the university for five years, the students have dealt with this issue repeatedly, and he doesn't feel the present ban will change much.
"It just seems like the NCAA is doing it this way. It's here; it's just what it is," he said.
But the Native American House, an American Indian studies department and student support center, has been created from the controversy. Assistant director Molly Springer said the center provides advocacy and support for American Indian students, faculty and staff who object to the mascot.
"We don't feel that the ruling went that far. We would have liked to see more ownership from the university. This is an educational situation, but we're not sure the ruling really said that," she said.
ncaa mascot ban
Schools facing NCAA ban:
* Alcorn State University: Braves * Central Michigan University: Chippewas * Catawba College: Indians * Midwestern State University: Indians * University of Utah: Utes * Indiana University-Pennsylvania: Indians * Carthage College: Redmen * Bradley University: Braves * Arkansas State University: Indians * Chowan College: Braves * University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Illini * University of Louisiana-Monroe: Indians * McMurry University: Indians * Mississippi College: Choctaws * Newberry College: Indians * University of North Dakota: Fighting Sioux * Southeastern Oklahoma State University: Savages Source: NCAA
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