Ban stuns Seminoles NCAA bars American Indian mascots and symbols from tournaments -- FSU threatens legal fight
By Emily Badger | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted August 6, 2005 TEAM NAMES CLASSIFIED AS 'HOSTILE AND ABUSIVE' . Alcorn State University BRAVES . Arkansas State University INDIANS . Bradley University BRAVES . Carthage College REDMEN . Catawba College INDIANS . Central Michigan University CHIPPEWAS . Chowan College BRAVES . Florida State University SEMINOLES . Illinois-Champaign?s ILLINI . Indiana University of Pa. INDIANS . Louisiana-Monroe INDIANS . McMurry University INDIANS . Midwestern State University INDIANS . Mississippi College CHOCTAWS . Newberry College INDIANS . University of Utah UTES . North Dakota FIGHTING SIOUX . Southeastern Oklahoma State SAVAGES TALLAHASSEE -- The NCAA on Friday took its strongest stance yet against American Indian mascots and imagery, announcing that 18 schools -- including Florida State -- cannot host postseason competition as long as their current names and logos are in place. They must also cover up or remove references to those logos when traveling to NCAA championships. The decision, which stunned Florida State officials, came out of Thursday's annual meeting of the NCAA's Executive Committee and Division I board of directors. The NCAA had asked 30 schools this spring to submit reports on whether their mascots, team names and pageantry violated the association's principles of cultural diversity. When the issue finally reached the Executive Committee on Thursday, few expected such a decisive policy after years of the NCAA's hands-off approach to mascots. NCAA President Myles Brand singled out 18 schools as having "prima facie hostile and abusive" symbols, and advocates praised that list for including what they consider the biggest offenders, such as Florida State, Illinois, Utah and North Dakota. The executive committee did not specify exactly what would be considered hostile and abusive. That definition may take years to evolve, with Florida State one of the first schools Friday to threaten a lawsuit. Executive Committee Chairman Walter Harrison, however, already has set the NCAA's sights on details as small as the spear on a Seminoles helmet. "An institution may adopt whatever mascots it wishes; that's an institutional matter that involves their integrity and autonomy as an institution," said Harrison, president of the University of Hartford, on a conference call. "But as a national association, we believe that mascots, nicknames or images deemed hostile or abusive in terms of race, ethnicity or national origin should not be visible at the championship events that we control." The NCAA does not control the college football bowl system, meaning the new policy may have limited effect on Division I football. But Harrison said he hoped the Bowl Championship Series would follow the same procedures. Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg, currently chair of the BCS, was not prepared to comment Friday. FSU President T.K. Wetherell said in a statement that he intends to pursue "all legal avenues" to overturn the decision, and he pointed to a resolution passed June 17 by the Seminole Tribe of Florida embracing the university's use of the Seminole name and imagery. "That the NCAA would now label our close bond with the Seminole people as culturally 'hostile and abusive' is both outrageous and insulting," Wetherell said. "The rules as we understand them would have us cover the Seminole name and symbol as if we were embarrassed, and any committee that would think that is a proper and respectful treatment of Native Americans should be ashamed." The new policy will take effect in February -- beginning, for example, with next year's NCAA basketball tournament -- to allow schools a chance to complain. But both Harrison and Brand stressed that the decision was four years in the making. Harrison was also confident it would stand up in court. While many advocacy groups were celebrating the decision Friday, the Seminole Tribe of Florida joined Florida State in its anger. "You have non-natives making a decision about native names," said Max Osceola, a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida's tribal council. "Maybe it took them four years, but it's been a lifetime we've been known as the Seminoles." The NCAA took into consideration the resolution the Seminole Tribe of Florida passed June 17. But the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma has strongly opposed Florida State's use of the name, and that didn't escape the NCAA's attention either. "That is great news and wonderful to hear. The whole movement is going in the right direction now," said David Narcomey, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma who has been lobbying Florida State for years. The rule will have costly implications for all 18 schools covered by the ban as they design and order three sets of uniforms -- one for home games, one for away, and now a third for games played in NCAA championships. Schools that have already been awarded NCAA championships won't have their hosting sites revoked but must take reasonable steps to cover up offending logos, which can be found anywhere from a painted sign on the centerfield scoreboard to the grass on a soccer field. Florida State is not scheduled to host any postseason events. But the school has been awarded baseball regionals on an almost annual basis and may now have hosted its last this spring. The NCAA is also giving schools until Aug. 1, 2008, to remove offending references on their mascots, cheerleaders, dance teams, band uniforms and paraphernalia during championship competition. Wetherell vowed the references wouldn't be removed altogether. "This university will forever be associated with the 'unconquered' spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida." Ted Hutton of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel contributed to this report. Emily Badger can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.the-sandbox.org Arthur Dent: You know, it's at times like this, when I'm stuck in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, about to die of asphyxiation in deep space, that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young. Ford Prefect: Why? What did she tell you? Arthur Dent: I don't know. I didn't listen. _______________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics E-mail Discussion List Welcome to RollTideFan - Wear a Cup! To unsubscribe or make changes to your subscription, please visit http://rolltidefan.net/mailman/listinfo/rtf_rolltidefan.net
