GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The Fighting Sioux was worth fighting for.
That came from Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and higher education officials, who said suing the NCAA and getting the settlement signed Friday was worth the money and effort.
"Without the lawsuit, we had nowhere else to turn," Stenehjem said. "The issue was over. ... The change at the university to a new nickname would already have happened."
Under a settlement unanimously approved Friday morning by the state Board of Higher Education, UND has three years to either strike a deal with the state's Sioux tribes to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname or begin retiring it.
Northeast Central Judicial Judge Lawrence Jahnke dismissed the $2 million lawsuit Friday, putting an end to the litigation about six weeks before a trial was to begin.
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A critical part of the agreement is an acknowledgment by the NCAA that UND has not been hostile or abusive in its use of the nickname.
"We think this settlement vindicates us, exonerates us from this notion of being hostile and abusive," said UND spokesman Peter Johnson.
State board President John Q. Paulsen said the settlement restores honor to UND.
"The university's reputation was sullied by the accusations of the NCAA and that had to get fixed," said Paulsen, noting the many American Indian programs UND offers.
Bernard Franklin, NCAA senior vice president for governance, membership, education and research services, said in a statement the settlement treats UND like all other schools.
"The settlement confirms that the Sioux people - and no one else - should decide whether and how their name should be used," Franklin said.
NCAA officials did not comment beyond the statement.
UND President Charles Kupchella did not attend the meeting because he is on vacation in Pennsylvania.
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He did not issue a statement on the settlement, although he did issue a statement Friday through Johnson on a vice president search.
Stenehjem said the next step will be to meet with the Standing Rock Sioux and Spirit Lake tribes to have a "calm and reflective" discussion about going forward.
To keep the nickname, UND must gain "clear and affirmative" support from both, the settlement agreement states.
If UND can't get approval for the nickname, officials must consider other options, Stenehjem said.
"We cannot continue to use the nickname at the University of North Dakota and tell the Sioux people that we're honoring them if their governments pass resolutions that say, no we're not," Stenehjem said.
UND and the NCAA have been at odds over this issue since August 2005, when the NCAA listed the school among 18 in the nation with mascots or nicknames considered "hostile or abusive."
The decision meant those universities couldn't host NCAA playoffs or use the nickname in postseason play.
UND sued the NCAA over the mandate.
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Stenehjem said Friday he believes North Dakota would have won the lawsuit, which claimed the NCAA broke its own bylaws when it adopted the nickname policy.
But it may have been a short-lived victory, Stenehjem said.
The NCAA indicated it planned to amend its bylaws, which would have "grandfathered in" the nickname policy, Stenehjem said.
The board's endorsement of the settlement Friday came after a private executive session that lasted about an hour.
Combined legal fees and expenses in the case have reached $2 million, making it one of the most expensive court cases in state history, Jahnke wrote in a court ruling this week.
Private donations through the UND Alumni Association and Foundation are funding North Dakota's legal costs. The most recent billings received by the foundation put the cost at less than $900,000.
Stenehjem called the agreement the "only realistic settlement.
"We are not going to be fighting this fight in 10 years and 20 years and 30 years," Stenehjem said. "This is an issue that needs to be resolved and be concluded."
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Readers can reach Forum reporter Amy Dalrymple at (701) 241-5590 'Only realistic settlement' lets UND keep name Amy Dalrymple 20071027
