SALT LAKE CITY ― The University of Utah will keep its “Ute” name for sports teams under a new agreement announced Tuesday with leaders of the Ute Indian Tribe that also provides increased recruiting and financial help for tribe members.
The arrangement was spelled out in memorandum signed by university leaders and the Ute Tribal Business Committee, the governing body of the 3,200-member tribe based 150 miles east of Salt Lake City.
The university won’t pay to use the name and instead will create ongoing scholarships for Ute students and appoint a tribe member as an adviser to school administrators on American Indian affairs.
The document doesn’t specify where the scholarship dollars will come from, but points to merchandise sales and private donors as possible sources.
American Indians are the school’s smallest ethnic group. In the 2012-2013 school year, just 171 of its 31,520 students, or a little over half a percent, identified as American Indians.
Ute tribe business leaders last year said they supported the current name but sought tuition waivers for tribe members, as well as the advisory post, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
A student group in December petitioned the school to drop tribe references altogether, saying if it didn’t, it would constantly need to rework its policies.
