Let’s clear some things up first. I am a UND graduate writing this article. I do think that this whole nickname process with the committees, votes, and re-votes and all that went into it showed that this community cares about UND a lot. No one argued for or against the Fighting Hawks name and logo out of malice, we all care about the University of North Dakota first. This process lead to a series of votes picking a name a lot of people seemed to not like. I get that, no nickname to some can replace Fighting Sioux. To others, the name was considered to be offensive. The reason we are even looking at this logo and the Fighting Hawks name was a result of that group of others including the NCAA. If UND was still named the Fighting Sioux then UND would be playing under sanctions in the NCAA and not allowed to host events like the 2015 and 2017 West Regionals in Fargo. The 2015 version cast the entire state of North Dakota in a wonderful light and showcased top level college hockey. I have no doubts that this next regional will do the same thing.

All of that being said, the logo unveiled, to me is good. Is it the best logo? No. Is it horrible, no. I like the logo because it shows the bird pushing forward into the future. In addition, the eye is right about on where Grand Forks is in the state of North Dakota. It shows that this University values itself as the flagship school. Those are my main reasons for liking it purely on aesthetics. As we move forward, the Hawk will be the sole logo without the ND background. I am ok with this. We have spent a long time playing under just the ND. While the interlocking ND is great, it does not benefit our other teams in terms of distinct identity. The fact that our football team is going to wear this logo this year on their helmets shows that the coaches support this logo and want to get behind it.

Could the logo be better? Sure. Could it be worse? You bet. No matter how good or bad the hawk logo was some fans will not support it. That is understandable. Over time more and more fans will look at this logo and realize that, like me, they are UND fans first. I came to North Dakota in 2012,one year after the Fighting Sioux Jerseys were used for the last time. I have never known this school to compete with a distinct and unique logo more than script lettering on jerseys. Once the hawk head remains UND will have it.

Regardless of the logo, I agree with the way our football team is handling the logo and name change. They have embraced it head on, and will be the first UND team to wear something with the logo on it. Coach Schweigert’s passionate speech at the press conference was outstanding to watch. He wants to lead UND Football forward to the playoffs and eventually an FCS championship. Whatever logo UND competes under does not change that. We are all University of North Dakota fans. The Fighting Sioux name will always have a proud place at UND. Since November, the Fighting Hawks name is slowly getting to that level.

Will the same acceptance for this name and logo happen overnight? Of course not. How long will it take? Given how long the process took to get to this point, I would say at least 20-30 years. In the meantime, more students will come to campus, and more people will buy Fighting Hawks gear and show support for their school. Grand Forks is a special place full of wonderful people who contribute to a world class university and great people who support it. That has never changed and will not change because of a logo disagreement. I am proud to be a UND graduate and will support this school no matter the name choice. Could the process have been expedited? Sure. Should it have been? Probably not.

This process allowed nearly every constituent to have a say in the name. We had rounds of voting to choose the name. UND worked with a company in SME with years of experience building brands for sport properties around the nation. Let’s give the logo at least as long as we gave the process from the final North Dakota referendum to get here to see how it does. If the logo does not sell enough or needs to be changed, it will be.

UND changed the Fighting Sioux logo multiple times and fans still supported the school. In summation, all of this process showed me how passionate we all are about North Dakota and its athletics. Agree or disagree with the logo, let’s give it time and remember, we are UND fans before we are fans of any nickname.