Law signed letting UND drop Fighting Sioux name
By DALE WETZEL and AMBER HUNT, Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple has signed a law allowing the state's flagship university to shed its 81-year-old Fighting Sioux nickname.
The measure signed Wednesday will let the University of North Dakota satisfy an NCAA request that it drop the name or risk sanctions. Lawmakers had passed a law in March requiring the school to keep the name.
The NCAA in 2005 listed the university among a group of schools with objectionable American Indian nicknames, logos and mascots. UND was the only school still fighting the NCAA over the issue.
The new law says UND cannot adopt a new nickname or logo until January 2015. Its supporters say that gives time for the debate to cool off.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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