From:
Date: 16 Jan 2001
Time: 10:36:28

Comments

Not the greatest spin or attempted cover up now that the cat is out of the bag. Unlike the article, we know the obvious, that Engelsted's money is in control of this issue.

That leads to the second story, apparently half (4 of 8) places on the ND Higher Ed Board are up for reappointment. The decision for Engelsted will come up so they can try to dodge it again.

Besides that, the AP story was run not only in the Mpls StarTribune, but also was in the USA Today national round up for ND on Monday. This is only going to make ND look like a small minded, backwards, greedy, and raciest place on a NATIONAL level, not good for tourism or student recruitment.

http://web.northscape.com/content/gfherald/2001/01/16/news/MB116KUP.htm

Tuesday, January 16, 2001

ENGELSTAD ULTIMATUM: Blunt letter strikes a nerve

Higher Education Board members deny Engelstad letter swayed vote

By Michael Benedict Herald Staff Writer

Reaction heightened Monday in the wake of a letter from Ralph Engelstad to UND President Charles Kupchella, made public Sunday.

State Board of Higher Education members denied that the wealthy Las Vegas casino owner and UND alumnus is pulling policy strings of both UND and the board.

In the letter -- dated Dec. 20 -- Engelstad told Kupchella he would abandon the $85 million hockey arena he's constructing in Grand Forks if Kupchella didn't decide to keep the university's Fighting Sioux nickname by Dec. 29.

Besides Kupchella, several board members received the letter Dec. 20, one day before the board voted 8-0 to retain UND's Fighting Sioux nickname and to approve a new Indian-head logo.

"In the case of this particular issue, I came into it with a very definite position," said board member John Korsmo. "I think the board did the right thing."

North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven backed the board's decision Monday.

"I was generally aware of his (Engelstad's) feelings on the logo before this; I think we all were," Hoeven said. "I believe the board members did what they think is right for the university."

Though Engelstad's letter was critical of Kupchella's performance, board member Chuck Stroup said Kupchella is doing well as UND's president.

relationship," she said. "We in North Dakota should be above this. No amount of money should dictate our moral compass."

The money is, however, Engelstad's, said Rep. Mike Grosz, R-Grand Forks. Grosz supports UND's use of its Fighting Sioux nickname.

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©2000 Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald - All Rights Reserved

http://web.northscape.com/content/gfherald/2001/01/16/local/APUND116.htm Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Senate to review board appointments

Lawmakers say they likely will be asked about handling of nickname dispute

By Dale Wetzel Associated Press

BISMARCK -- North Dakota's Senate will be reviewing the appointments of four of the Board of Higher Education's eight voting members this spring. Lawmakers say they're likely to be asked about the board's handling of the dispute over UND's "Fighting Sioux" nickname.

"I would be very surprised if it did not come up," Sen. Gary Nelson, R-Casselton, the Senate majority leader, said Monday. "That's part of the decisions that the board has made, and I think that opens all the board members up to some question as to what their rationale was."

The North Dakota Senate reviews appointments to the Board of Higher Education. Senators will be reviewing former Gov. Ed Schafer's choices of Chuck Stroup and Richard Kunkel, a former Republican legislator and retired Devils Lake school superintendent, for the board. Both already are serving, pending Senate confirmation.

Gov. John Hoeven will also have two board spots to fill before the Legislature adjourns in April.

Eleven people have applied for the openings, including incumbent board member Craig Caspers, who is eligible for another four-year term, and David Gipp, a UND nickname critic who is president of United Tribes Technical College of Bismarck.

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©2000 Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald - All Rights Reserved

http://web.northscape.com/content/gfherald/2001/01/16/editorial/EDIT116.htm Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Board must mend fences, draw lines

OUR VIEWThe Board of Higher Education must define its relationships with the UND president and a big donor.

Mike Jacobs for the Herald

Let's put the best face on the latest incident in UND's relationship with Ralph Engelstad. Let's accept the argument that his ultimatum about the nickname and logo was coincidental. Let's believe board members who say they didn't consider Engelstad's letter in making their decision about the nickname.

Then what do we have?

We have a wretched example of governance, that's what we have.

If the Board of Higher Education had determined long in advance that it would force UND President Charles Kupchella to continue using the Sioux nickname and to adopt a new logo, it should have acted. Instead, acting in good faith, Kupchella developed a process involving the entire campus community and Native American leaders throughout the region. That's the process that irritated Engelstad, and he laid the blame on Kupchella. That he chose to do so in vindictive language is beside the point. His interference is bad enough.

Now the board must manage the perception that it was willing to sell the name to Engelstad.

It also must make clear where it stands on Engelstad's criticism of Kupchella.

It also must figure out a way to manage its relationship with Engelstad, who has pretty much demanded his way from the beginning, and gotten it.

North Dakotans are entitled to wonder where the board would draw the line. And the board has to answer that question.

Then, there's the damage that's been done to governance on campus. After the board short-circuited his fact-finding process, Kupchella bravely tried to chart a course that would gain him credibility on campus. The chancellor of the university system sidetracked that.

So, putting the best face on it, we have a university system -- the board and chancellor -- that's hellbent on interfering on campus. That's a bad system of governance, just about everybody would agree.

And we have the perception that the board's enthusiasm to make this decision is driven by greed.

This is abetted by the haste and the secrecy with which the board acted. It could have diminished this appearance if it had acknowledged receipt of Engelstad's ultimatum and had a frank discussion of it. Instead, board members went ahead with a formulaic recitation of the reasons the Sioux name should stay -- without ever approaching what now appears to have been the biggest reason of all. This badly damages the credibility of the board and the chancellor, its chief staff person.

Give Engelstad his due. He is a businessman. His impatience is understandable.

His behavior isn't acceptable, however. The university is not a business proposition. It is an institution that represents all of the people associated with it, not only those who give it a lot of money. The people who made representations to Engelstad about the nickname issue should have made that clear to him. The board should have made clear that Engelstad's efforts to push his own agenda were out of place and unwelcome.

Putting the best face on it, what we have is an awful mess that needs to be cleaned up. The chore goes to the Board of Higher Education and its leadership, which must make clear whether or not it has confidence in Kupchella and how much it will tolerate from Engelstad.

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©2000 Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald - All Rights Reserved