U of M to reconsider North Dakota nickname policy

(AP) - The chairwoman of a University of Minnesota advisory committee says the group will reconsider its policy that bars competition with the University of North Dakota in any sport except hockey, because of UND's Fighting Sioux nickname.

Melissa Avery, who chairs of the school's Advisory Committee on Athletics, said Tuesday her committee will "develop a process" to reconsider the policy. She would not give details.

Avery said the decision to reconsider was made at a Feb. 1 committee meeting that was closed to the public. She said no minutes of the meeting were taken.

UND, which is moving to NCAA Division I-AA next year, is suing the NCAA over restrictions on the Fighting Sioux nickname in postseason play. The NCAA considers the nickname hostile and abusive.

The Minnesota advisory committee will meet again March 1, Avery said. She would not say whether the school's nickname policy will be discussed at that meeting or when more details will be released.

The advisory committee voted to close its February meeting to the public and decided not to take minutes, Avery said.

Bill Donohue, the university's deputy general counsel, said Avery asked him for advice on whether the meeting could be closed.

He said he told Avery the state's open meeting law applies only to the Board of Regents, the University of Minnesota system's governing body, and the decision of whether other meetings should be open is up to the chairmen of those meetings.

Attorney Mark Anfinson, who represents the Minnesota Newspaper Association, said the discussion should have been public.

"If the Regents blessed this (committee), set it up and approved of it -- if it's their creature, in other words -- you can make a good argument it should be subject to open meeting law," Anfinson said.

"This is an important policy debate, and it should have been done publicly," he said. "It's shameful to (close the meeting) in a case like this where no one's privacy is being affected, where they just don't want public scrutiny."

The Minnesota policy was put in place in 2003 but was not strictly enforced until late last year, after the issue came up at a Nov. 2 committee meeting.

University of Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said in December he brought the nickname policy to the advisory committee's attention with the idea that Minnesota could play UND in several sports. Instead, he said, the committee voted to enforce the policy more strictly.

If Minnesota changes its nickname policy, the two schools could compete more often, bringing money to both programs. Division I-A football schools, such as Minnesota, usually guarantee opponents between $125,000 and $400,000 per game, coaches said.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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