GRAND FORKS, N.D.
The state Board of Higher Education has postponed a decision on the fate of the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname, saying it wants to give one of the namesake tribes a chance to vote on the issue.
The board had set an Oct. 1 deadline to drop the logo, which the NCAA and some others consider offensive. Board members said during a conference call Thursday there was a misunderstanding about the date of tribal elections on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and more time is needed to get the opinions of the new council.
“If we make a motion to extend this, I want this thing done,” board member Duaine Espegard, of Grand Forks, said before the group voted 6-1 to extend the deadline. Board member Claus Lembke, of Bismarck, was absent and did not vote.
