Opinion

Chuck Haga: 'Indian' party another black eye at UND

Friday, March 28, 2008

"You might say the timing was bad, given the University of North Dakota's ongoing controversy over its use of the "Fighting Sioux" nickname and logo for its athletic teams. Or maybe, if your inclination is to see the logo go, the timing was just right.

As the UND hockey team competed in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association tournament in St. Paul last weekend, Indian students filed a discrimination complaint with the university over a November sorority party.

At that party, some students dressed in frilled Indian dresses, feathers and loincloths. Some wore paint on their bodies and faces, and in a photograph one male student strikes what appears to be a stereotypical pose.

The off-campus party was sponsored by Gamma Phi Beta sorority, whose on-campus house sits next to the UND American Indian Student Services house. The pictures were posted on the Facebook site of a sorority member. They have been removed, but not before they were found by a member of an anti-logo student group, copied and circulated as a slide show with critical commentary.

The sorority has been placed on probation by its national office and by UND's dean of students office pending an investigation of the discrimination complaint.

Adding to the potential embarrassment: The sorority's chapter adviser is the wife of the hockey coach and daughter of UND's alumni director."

Get the Story:
Chuck Haga: 'Cowboy' party: one more nail in Sioux logo coffin? (The MinnPost 3/27)