Disagreement arises about taking stances

A Sept. 22 advertisement in the Grand Forks Herald has caused administrators to look at departments and organizations on campus taking official stances about issues, most specifically the controversy surrounding the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo.

UND Affirmative Action Officer Sally Page sent an internal memorandum raising concerns that these public opinions on a contentious issue could create a "chilling effect," causing students who disagree with the stance feeling isolated in these programs.

The ad, featuring a girl holding a sign saying "I am not a logo" superimposed over an image of Sitting Bull, included a list of 27 university organizations, programs, and departments that have stated opposition to the continued use of the Sioux moniker.

Taking stances

The reaction to the advertisement continued last week when Vice President for Student and Outreach Services Bob Boyd sent a letter to the only program under his jurisdiction that had included their name in the list.

Boyd stated in the Oct. 6 letter to Leigh Jeanotte, director of the American Indian Student Services Center, that he was surprised to see the name of the organization included because of an agreement over a year ago that the units would not take official stances on issues.

The reasons for this agreement, he says, are simply due to a lack of a universal method of deciding on these stances. "We could not as a Student and Outreach Services unit determine a process to legitimize an individual unit to speak on controversial issues," he said. "None of the units is independent."

The units report to Boyd, who then reports to President Kupchella, Boyd explained. Because of this chain of command, no one group was considered to be able to take a stance by themselves.

Another factor in his decision to ask for the removal of the name, he says, is ensuring that federally funded programs that currently exist at UND will not be put in danger. "I was convinced that such activity without authorization can in fact potentially jeopardize programs that are federally funded," he said. "I was concerned that we might potentially place in jeopardy the programs that we have designed for Native American students."

Boyd says that the letter was in no way trying to stop freedom of expression, but simply to keep his departments consistent and clear of possible problems that could stem from taking stances. "They have a right to speak on any issue that they wish to speak on as individuals," he said.

Oversight

According to Boyd, Page's memo outlining concerns of students feeling uncomfortable in departments with differing viewpoints worried him. He met with Page to discuss the issue and decided to ensure that none of his units would be involved in similar ads in the future.

But the 26 other entities on campus that were listed in the advertisement were not explicitly told to stop endorsing similar things, something that Leigh Jeanotte found questionable. "The focal Indian program on this campus has to comply, but nobody else," he said. "It's almost as if we're being singled out. Maybe that's because we do have those strong views about the issue."

He says that Provost Greg Weisenstein has indicated that he will not pursue any action in regards to the recent correspondence, and believes that they are the only program being asked to remove its name from future ads. Ultimately, Jeanotte thinks that his organization is taking the stance because of what the members have seen and heard while on campus.

"The entire staff, here at our office anyway, have witnessed and have seen and have come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to change the name," he said. "We're kind of the heartbeat of the American Indian community and that's really what we've seen here on campus."

He also questioned why the most recent ad was this controversial, as several similar ads have run during the last 5-6 years that listed the center as a contesting group. He did, however, acknowledge that isolating students is something that needs to be prevented if it indeed happens.

One thing that worried him, he said, was the possible feeling of isolation that may be experienced by students and faculty that disagree with the nickname or logo in a campus that largely is against changing the nickname. "What about the individuals who want the name changed?" he said. "The relatively small numbers that feel that the name should be changed are the ones that I feel are being victims here."

Jeanotte says that the center's staff works hard to keep the office area logo-neutral, keeping both anti-logo and pro-logo things out of the unit so people don't have to feel offended or isolated.

He has agreed to comply with Boyd's request and not include the center's name or endorsement on any similar messages.