Rumors prove untrue in REA agreement

Ralph Engelstad's Dec. 20, 2000 letter to UND President Charles Kupchella has often been credited with inspiring the State Board of Higher Education to cement the status of the "Fighting Sioux" logo and nickname. The letter also seems to have started a series of rumors that are still recanted to this day.

As Engelstad's namesake hockey arena was being constructed, a presidential committee was looking into the logo and nickname issue to decide what UND needed to do. The frustration of Engelstad, a former hockey goalie and an ardent supporter of the "Fighting Sioux" moniker, boiled over in the letter, later referred to as the "Dear Chuck" letter.

In that document, Engelstad tells Kupchella to either approve the logo and "slogan" soon, or construction on the arena would be halted and Engelstad would view the shell of the building as a "bad investment." He felt that "commitments" from UND had not been met during the construction. Just one day after Engelstad's threat, the state board voted unanimously to keep the name and logo at UND.

"Commitments were made to me by others and yourself (Kupchella), regarding the Sioux logo and the Sioux slogan, before I started the arena and after it had been started. These promises have not been kept, and I, as a businessman, cannot proceed while this cloud is still hanging above me," the letter says.

Although the letter makes references to promises made about keeping the logo, Kupchella said this is not how the agreement happened.

"I don't have any idea what he's talking about there," he said. "I can tell you that no promises were made to him by anybody in authority."

The lease agreement between UND and Engelstad outlined the construction of the arena, and also set up the structure of the non-profit entity that is currently running it. That agreement, however, does not mention the logo or nickname whatsoever.

Kupchella said that the agreement, which legally prevented Engelstad from halting construction of the arena once it began, is proof that no promises had been made to the UND benefactor.

"If you read the letter and the agreement, it's obvious that they both can't be right," Kupchella said.

The lease agreement says that if construction on the arena would have stopped, UND officials would have been able to "draw funding" from Engelstad's loan financing the construction in order to finish the construction themselves.

Officials from the Alumni Association, which helped secure Engelstad's gift, deferred comment on this issue to Kupchella.

No impact UND and REA officials agreed that no deal had been made between Engelstad and UND regarding the logo during construction.

Since the arena has opened its doors, the rumors have remained, however. Many people now think that a logo or nickname change would result in UND's loss of the REA, a claim that was also emphatically denied.

"I have never heard any conversation that would lead me to believe that anything like that would happen," said Bob Gallager, UND's vice president for finance and operations. "There's no truth to the rumors. It's a $100 million facility. It's not very realistic that they would kick out the school and leave it empty."

Kupchella also said these rumors are false, saying that the "agreement is the agreement. We would never have agreed if things like that were in there."

Jody Hodgson, general manager of the REA, said the Engelstad family remains committed to the university, but neither they, nor arena officials have plans to kick UND out if the nickname and logo were changed.

"As always, the REA will work with UND on this issue," he said.

7 years down, 23 to go? Although all parties contacted universally denied the rumors, one common topic might be able to explain why many people are confused.

The REA is run by Ralph Engelstad Arena, Inc., a non-profit entity that oversees the facility's operations. A board of directors - which includes a few long-time Engelstad friends - manages the facility.

According to Gallager, Engelstad chose this management to ensure that UND wouldn't inherit a facility that was losing money. UND will take control of the arena on Sept. 30, 2030 at the latest. The school would be able to take control sooner, if both sides desired, but none of the officials said it was an urgent issue.

"There would be pluses and minuses and both sides of the issue if we took over," Gallager said.

The current agreement basically makes UND a renter of the arena. The Athletic Department and REA Inc. use a profit-sharing system to split the excess money made from ticket sales.

Public (dis)awareness Although officials working with the arena all agreed that the rumors were untrue, somewhere along the way they gained legitimacy. Some of them lamented that this was a perfect example of rumor gone bad.

"One thing I noticed right away is that there are a lot of rumors here. Everybody here thinks they've got the scoop about what really happened," Hodgson said. "I believe that in the absence of good information, people are left with rumors and stories that get passed on."

Kupchella said part of the difficulty in disseminating the information has been with the issue itself.

"It's really hard to prove a negative," he said.

Engelstad's "Dear Chuck" letter is available online at www.dakotastudent.com.