Utes' name at risk

[bluegrizzlies1]

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2919074

Policy might force the team to change or cover its logo

By Michael C. Lewis

The Salt Lake Tribune

Thirty-three years after being adopted as a more culturally sensitive nickname for the athletic teams at the University of Utah, the "Utes" has been outlawed as offensive.

Labeling the nickname "hostile and abusive," the NCAA on Friday announced a new policy banning the display of it or any related imagery at all of its postseason national championship events. The organization also will prohibit the Utes - and any school with a American Indian nickname or mascot - from hosting postseason championships, past the two for which they already have been selected.

"Colleges and universities may adopt any mascot that they wish, as that is an institutional matter," said Walter Harrison, president at the University of Hartford and chairman of the NCAA Executive Committee that created the policy. "But . . . we believe that mascots, nicknames or images deemed hostile or abusive in terms of race, ethnicity or national origin should not be visible at the championship events that we control."

That means, no ''Utes.''

Although the university has used the nickname "Utes" exclusively since 1972 with the approval of the Ute Tribal Council, the new policy apparently means it will have to either change nicknames or have its teams somehow cover or remove the word "Utes" and the popular drum-and-feather logo from

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any uniforms or equipment, in order to play in NCAA tournaments after the policy takes effect Feb. 1.

The university also would have to cover or remove such images from the Huntsman Center during the first and second rounds of the men's basketball tournament in March and the women's gymnastics championships in 2007, though its mascot - a red-tailed hawk named "Swoop" - is not at issue.

Nor is the football team subject to the policy, because Division I-A football teams like the Utes do not have a postseason championship under the jurisdiction of the NCAA.

"It appears as though the University of Utah will not be significantly impacted by the new policy at championship events," associate athletic director Liz Abel said. "Some of our uniforms bear the drum-and-feather logo, and we anticipate that we may need to replace that with the block U logo. However, we are taking a wait-and-see approach."

That's because the Utes were taken somewhat off-guard by the announcement, and both university President Michael Young and Vice President Fred Esplin were vacationing and unavailable to comment on it.

Athletic Director Chris Hill had not seen the details of the announcement, but said school officials meet regularly with the Ute Tribal Council in an effort to maintain a good relationship and make sure the tribe is pleased with the university's use of its name.

"Whatever we do, we make sure we're respectful of their heritage and won't do anything to disparage that," Hill said.

The Utes were among 33 schools that the NCAA said submitted self-evaluations last November "to determine the extent, if any, of the use of Native American imagery or references on their campuses."

Of those 33 schools, the Utes and 17 others - including Illinois and Florida State - were found to "continue to use Native American imagery or references and are subject to the new policy." Schools on the list still can appeal, but reactions elsewhere were not as measured as the one at Utah.

The president of Florida State University, for example, stridently suggested he will take legal action, if necessary, to keep the Seminoles nickname visible at NCAA events. The Seminoles have the support of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, similar to the tribal support the Utes enjoy.

"That the NCAA would now label our close bond with the Seminole people as culturally 'hostile and abusive' is both outrageous and insulting," president T.K. Wetherell said in a statement. "The rules as we understand them would have us cover the Seminole name and symbol as if we were embarrassed, and any committee that would think that is a proper and respectful treatment of Native Americans should be ashamed."

Native American nicknames and mascots have fueled increasing criticism and controversy in recent years, with schools like Miami of Ohio, St. John's and Marquette making changes to allay sensitivity concerns.

Miami of Ohio went from Redskins to RedHawks, St. John's switched from the Redmen to the Red Storm, and Marquette dumped the Warriors for the Golden Eagles - then switched briefly to Gold earlier this year before outraged fans forced the school to switch back.

Another of the teams on the list, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, attracted considerable attention five years ago, when a wealthy alumnus threatened to revoke his $100 million donation to build a hockey arena and halt construction immediately if the name was changed.

The arena and the nickname still stand today.

For their part, the Utes had been known for years as both the Utes and the Redskins, but the latter name was dropped in 1972 amid increasing concerns on campus about cultural sensitivity.

The Utes continued to feature the "Crimson Warrior" before home football games - a horseman dressed in Native American costume rode onto the field and challenged the opposing team by driving a spear into a hay bale - but abandoned that practice sometime in the mid-1980s.

Though president Myles Brand said in a statement that the NCAA "objects to institutions using racial/ethnic/national origin references in their intercollegiate athletic programs," the policy does not extend to schools with ethnic nicknames that are not specifically Native American - such as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the San Diego State Aztecs.

Nor does it apply to schools like Hawaii, whose Warriors do not use Native American symbols.

Also, Brand explained that the University of North Carolina-Pembroke will not face the sanctions despite its use of the nickname Braves, because more than 20 percent of its students are Native American and it has historically admitted a high percentage of Native Americans.

"This is so new . . . we're just going to have to study and see how it affects us," said Coralie Alder, the director of public relations at the University of Utah. "We certainly want to always strive to be in compliance with the NCAA."

Teams affected by the ruling

* Alcorn State University Braves

* Central Michigan University Chippewas

* Catawba College Indians

* Florida State University Seminoles

* 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-Champaign Illini

* University of Louisiana-Monroe Indians

* McMurry University Indians

* Mississippi College Choctaws

* Newberry College Indians

* University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux

* SE Oklahoma State University Savages

[bluegrizzlies1]

what the heack is the ncaa doing this for

[Riggo-toni]

All right - somebody protest Fighting Irish - It IS a racial stereotype, and the logo is about as racist as the Cleveland Indians.

Can't have it both ways!!! :finger:

[China]

Florida State has already said it will sue.

[BlueTalon]

This is politically correct @$$ Bu!!$#*t!

I'd like to see Florida State play Illinios in a bowl game, come out with duct tape covering their helmet logos, and after the first play of the game take it off.

[gridironmike]

Originally posted by BlueTalon

This is politically correct @$$ Bu!!$#*t!

I'd like to see Florida State play Illinios in a bowl game, come out with duct tape covering their helmet logos, and after the first play of the game take it off.

I was thinking something along the same lines. If FSU sues, I will actually be rooting for them!