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| Guest Op Ed: State Board of Higher Ed |
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| Written by Guest Op Ed | |||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 16 February 2012 14:01 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Grant Shaft, President, State Board of Higher Education During a special meeting of the State Board of Higher Education held on February 13, 2012, the Board asked North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to seek a declaratory opinion from the state Supreme Court as to the constitutionality of the law passed by the state legislature last April requiring that the University of North Dakota’s official name and logo be the Fighting Sioux. Critics of the Board and the University System have suggested that the Board’s action is a power grab intended to infringe upon the referral process and the voting rights of the people inherent in that process. The State Board of Higher Education was constitutionally established in 1938 to remove the oversight of the state’s universities and colleges from the political process and place them under the control of an appointed Board of Higher Education. The process of appropriating funds to operate the institutions remained with the legislature. Although this constitutionally established governance of higher education has resulted in periodic friction between the Board and the legislative and executive branches, it has produced a state university system that is recognized as one of the finest in the United States when compared to national metrics including efficient use of taxpayer dollars, affordability, access, student satisfaction, graduate satisfaction, workforce training, employers satisfaction, graduation/retention rates or student’s performance on national exams. The Board of Higher Education is appointed by the Governor to set governance and academic policy for North Dakota’s 11 institutions. Once appointed, Board members take an oath to uphold the state constitution. Just as a governor, legislator or other state official swears to follow the constitution in exercising their office, Board members are sworn to act in the best interest of our universities and colleges. Regarding the Fighting Sioux issue, our oath requires us to act in the best interest of UND, its athletic program and its student athletes. This means it is our duty as the Board of Higher Education to challenge the constitutionality of a law that damages UND, even if the result of such a challenge may negate a statewide vote. Those who have carefully examined the arguments presented by both sides of the issue and specifically the NCAA sanctions and what effect they have and will have on UND’s student athletes have concluded that the name and logo must be retired. This group now includes the Governor, a significant majority of the legislature, the attorney general, the Board of Higher Education, UND administration, the UND athletic department and all UND coaches, the UND alumni association, faculty, staff and students. In the coming months, you will hear these groups outline the reasons they believe it is necessary to retire the name and logo. Those who truly support UND, both its academics and its athletics, will listen carefully to these voices and measure them against those who have may have placed their affection for a beloved nickname and logo ahead of the institution itself and its student athletes.
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Comments (4)
Big Running
said:
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... The only guy who loves to see his name in print more than Grant Shaft is Kevin "Jesus loves me" Cramer. Grant Shaft used to be an underwear model. One more reason not to like him. |
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jason
said:
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... I believe we need an ammendment, and perhaps there is already but I don't think so, that limits the time appointees can be on the Board. He sure generalizes the amount of support he get's. The students at UND do NOT support this. Their student government does but not the student body. They are sickened by this. If he wouldn't have F'd this up in the first place by bending over to the NCAA, along with UND and state officials, when they came up with ridiculous stipulations, there wouldn't be a problem. But for some reason I believe the Board and the UND officials and outrageously PC staff have wanted this for years. And now they got their chance. Kudos for letting him guest post. Even if it is BS. |
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d narnya troll
said:
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Dear Jason All neatly wrapped up in a package and tied up with a bow by AG Wayne Stenehjem (in the NCAA settlement), with the unspoken blessing of Gov. Hoeven. After all, Hoeven's elite eastern liberal alma mater (Dartmouth College) changed its nickname from the Indians to the Green. And look how that school's reputation has gone to hell. (sarcasm intended). |
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big jake
said:
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... No offense Chet but is this guy a lawyer? This is patently legalistic bureaucratic gobbledy gook. "The State Board of Higher Education was constitutionally established in 1938 to remove the oversight of the state’s universities and colleges from the political process and place them under the control of an appointed Board of Higher Education". Well we have certainly taken politics out of higher ed. Astounding. Please correct me if I am wrong but I am under the impression that the NCAA only will deny UND any playoff or championship games if they don't change their logo/team name. If that is so, first, UND should have said go to hell. Since they kowtowed here, I can only conclude that this is an economic issue. UND and others want the revenue generated by sporting events and were willing to sacrifice integrity for money. If our Native brothers and sisters have changed their minds since they agreed to allow the use of the "Fighting Sioux" in 1969(??), I am not aware of that before the NCAA flap. I think the bigger issue here is the Board of H.E. Their alleged autonomy needs to be checked. In spite of Shaft's grandstanding, many of his "facts" are opinion and spin. Let's not forget DSU in all of this. Incompetence and arrogance come to mind. I would further suggest that a housecleaning is in order--top to bottom. The citizen/taxpayers need to be better informed and a new level of accountability needs to appear. I have had more than enough about the "fighting sioux". What an incredible useless diversion. If we really think that this is an important issue, we are basically as screwed up as the tea baggers. |
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