Team nickname fight continues.....in this round, a lawsuit to PREVENT the nickname from being retired is dismissed

A district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education that sought to prevent the body from retiring the University of North Dakota’s controversial nickname.

Judge Michael G. Sturdevant said in his decision that he would’ve preferred otherwise, but he can see no legal reason that the state board could not change the nickname. Nevertheless he rapped the board for its failure to fight hard to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname.

The higher education board had earlier set an Oct. 31 deadline for both Sioux tribes in the state to approve the nickname and, at its last meeting in November, did not extend the deadline. Because of the litigation, though, the board never formally instructed UND to retire the nickname.

Nickname supporters in the Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation, which approved the nickname by a 67 percent vote, sued shortly before the November meeting seeking to buy time for members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to rally for a similar vote.

See the full story HERE in the Echo Press.