A former mayor of Bismarck, N.D., wants the University of North Dakota to keep its nickname.
The university, formerly known as the “Fighting Sioux,” came up with a
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A former mayor of Bismarck, N.D., wants the University of North Dakota to keep its nickname.
The university, formerly known as the “Fighting Sioux,” came up with a list of replacement nicknames over the summer. The ex-mayor, Marlan (Hawk) Haakenson, is trying to block the change by trademarking the replacement options himself, The Bismarck Tribune reports.
The university officially retired the old nickname back in 2012, under pressure from the NCAA, which viewed it as offensive to Native Americans, but some fans continue to use the name and display the old logo. When the NCAA threatened sanctions, the university’s president, Robert O. Kelley, appointed a committee to find a replacement. By July the committee had come up with five options: Fighting Hawks, Nodaks, North Stars, Roughriders, and Sundogs. People at the university would be able to vote for their favorite.
Mr. Haakenson filed applications this month to trademark all five names. On Monday his paperwork for three of the names — Fighting Hawks, Nodaks, and North Stars — went through. They are all listed as “Real Estate — Personal.”
“As far as I’m concerned, Kelley will never get permission from me,” Mr. Haakenson told the Tribune. “I’ll use every legal means I have to stop him from using the names.”
Mr. Haakenson isn’t connected to the university — he graduated from North Dakota State University — but he said he supports the original nickname, and he’s confident that it will return one day.
He tried to trademark Roughriders and Sundogs as well, but said the names were too similar to existing trade names. A motorcycle club, an apothecary, and a welding company already hold the name Roughriders, Minnesota Public Radio reports. North Dakota’s secretary of state, Al Jaeger, said the university might also have trouble if it tried to register that name.
But a university spokesman, Peter Johnson, said Mr. Haakenson’s new trademarks won’t affect the planned nickname change.
“We would not be engaging in any real-estate activity (using the trade names), so that shouldn’t be an issue for us,” Mr. Johnson told the Tribune. “It’s not uncommon to have the same name among sports teams. But it’s even more common to have the same names in different endeavors.”
An advertising agency in Fargo, N.D., Sundog Interactive, already holds the trademark for the name Sundog. But on Wednesday, Sundog Interactive said it would be happy to let the university use the nickname.
“We wish them nothing but the best in whichever name they go with,” Heidi Haaven, the business’s communications director, told Forum News Service in an email. “Obviously choosing a name that represents the university and the state of North Dakota is not an easy task, and we would support whatever decision they make.”
