luapsided Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 The purpose of this letter is to express to you my frustration, irritation and disgust with your testimony against the use of the Fighting Sioux nickname. As a former Fighting Sioux Athlete with 2 NCAA National Championships, 1 Runner Up, 3 WCHA Championships and a 4-year degree from the University of North Dakota, I find your testimony in favor of retiring the nickname unacceptable behavior for our "Athletic Director". As the Athletic Director for Fighting Sioux Athletics you have the responsibility to represent all Fighting Sioux Athletics. Not only do you represent my 4 years as a Fighting Sioux Hockey player, but also those that have donned the Fighting Sioux logo in all sports long before both of us were born. Look at the pictures on the wall of the Hyslop. The AD position is to represent the rich tradition that has been chiseled out of the land that once was the home of the Sioux Nation. That is a sacred part of your responsibility as the AD for Fighting Sioux Athletics. Every AD that has gone before you, has embraced and upheld the tradition that is Fighting Sioux Athletics... Sioux Pride. Eighty years ago, it was decided by the elders of the Sioux People to allow UND to use the proud name of the "Nadousessioux", the Sioux. It was not for you or others today to decide for yourselves to change. To stand up against the number one most recognized logo in North America is like jumping up and yelling during a moment of silence. I was disappointed to see you stand against our tradition, and us, which is Sioux Pride. My immediate request to you is simple. I want you or those who state that the nickname is a poor representation to the Sioux People to present me with hard evidence that is harmful, degrading, and a poor representation. Mr. Faison, for eighty years the Fighting Sioux has been raised to national prominence without being hailed as racist, degrading, or having a negative connotation directed at anyone. Still today, not one of those who stand against the nickname has shown proof that the use of the Fighting Sioux is bad for those it represents. If it was that bad, it would have been changed a long before you showed up on campus. To me this is discrimination at its finest. Someone is either jealous or misinformed and is seizing an opportunity to take a cheap shot at UND. Since when we do give credence to academic professors at the university who step out against another department, the athletic establishment. To use their platform to spread dissent against those who employ them? Again, when debating the issue, they cannot bring anything to the floor that directly supports their argument, except that it is bad. That Mr. Faison, is their opinion and your opinion. That opinion is a weak argument that you seem to embrace as being flatulently pretentious without regard to UND rich history. To say that I am furious is an understatement. You are supposedly a steward of the rich tradition that Fighting Sioux Athletics represents in the hearts and souls of all those who embrace the University. You were given the trust of carrying that tradition when you accepted the AD position. You were not employed to change it. You fumbled the ball on your first carry in the critical game for Sioux Athletics. You are doing more harm than good and like in sports, your individual performance is detrimental to the team and you should be benched. The current 12,000 students that attend UND fall short and are dwarfed by the millions of alumni who have attended UND over the past 80 years. What is interesting to note that during this time, the overwhelming majority of students embraced the University, supported its programs, and now as alumni, endorse the University with their financial donations back to the institution. To give credence to the current student body senate is dangerously ignorant. They are still in school...learning. My question to you and the current UND President is this: Are you prepared to pick up the economic tab that you are about to lose if you are successful at retiring the use of the nickname? I doubt it. I hear you and others say it is time to move on. I agree... you and those who have come to change UND, it is time for you all to move on and get off the campus. As a taxpayer and a 25 year ND resident, I resent those of you who step onto the campus of the University and yield or cower to the minority for the sake of peace of being politically correct. I wonder what will happen when those among you decide that we are driving on the wrong side of the road and do not like red stop signs because red is a offensive color. Your decision to step up to the plate against the use of the Fighting Sioux nickname as a representative of UND Athletics shows poor judgment and your true colors. It demonstrates your lack of ability to fully grasp the reach of Fighting Sioux Pride You obviously possess a weak understanding of the history and tradition that was entrusted to you. You are pushing for change. I applaud your efforts, but that energy might be better served on a school that has no tradition, no backbone, no rudder, and embraces people who cheer for mediocrity, a community with whom have never set foot on a national platform athletically or academically. As Earl Stridden has loudly stated, not only was permission given by the elders and chiefs of the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake Tribes some eighty years ago, but the lies and misrepresentation by you and your self serving political hacks is an aberration to the University and to that eighty years of blessing and the tradition that is UND Fighting Sioux Athletics. For eighty years, the Fighting Sioux nickname has done more to bring the people our region, those who attend the school, and those who embrace UND together, not dividing it, but melding it together as one. Yet, there are those in the minority who have done more to divide, separate, and destroy what they perceive to be negative or harmful. I find it ironic that those who are so against the use of the nickname, cannot even sing the school song nor have stepped foot in an athletic event at UND and cheered for the Fighting Sioux. You have shown your true colors by your testimony. They are not true Green and White. You have chosen the wrong side. You might as well have put on a Gopher Jersey or cheer for NDSU. If President Clifford were on campus today, you would be looking for a new job. It was instilled in me as young boy growing up in Roseau that I would one day I would play for the Fighting Sioux. My great uncle was a Sioux, by brothers played for the Sioux and I have many, many friends that are all Fighting Sioux. It was an honor to carry the name of the Sioux People as a student athlete at UND. We are all connected. It is something that you obviously do not understand. My time at the University provided me with a career and profession that allows me to travel the globe as an airline captain. I see more Sioux logos across the country than any other logo out there. It is everywhere, and sadly you are against that popular image. The Fighting Sioux is sewn into all our hearts and lives by our connection to one name, by a love for something that you were not a part of... a love that goes beyond your ability to comprehend as an outsider ... Sioux Pride stays... love it or.... leave. Go Sioux! Cordially, Capt Frank V Burggraf Fighting Sioux Hockey 1978-82 burggrafskating.com "Making Great Strides in Hockey!"sm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattim Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Travis Gray March 28 at 4:33pm Reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattim Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Thought that was Franks letter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luapsided Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Thought that was Franks letter? Sorry, long day. I got it forwarded to me and posted it here. I guess this letter is under the Sioux name forum also :/ But it is hockey related I Edited it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetch Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I have wondered how many other former athletes have written similar letters that have not gone public ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luapsided Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 I have wondered how many other former athletes have written similar letters that have not gone public ? Lets hope quite a few. This was a perfectly written letter and the more people to read it the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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