Audio: Board Of Higher Education President Wants To Review UND Decision To Exclude "North Dakota" Nickname Choice

This morning news broke here on SAB regarding the voting process for establishing a new nickname for the University of North Dakota, and the big news out of that announcement is that UND President Robert Kelley decided to exclude the “North Dakota” or no nickname option from the vote.

Shortly after I broke the news, State Board of Higher Education President Kathy Neset appeared on the What’s On Your Mind radio program with Scott Hennen and said she’d like a second look at Kelley’s decision.

[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]”I think that the entities that are involved in this should have another quick look through this,” she continued. “We need to get this right.”[/mks_pullquote]

“We should revisit this quickly, soon, and get another good take on what does the future look like for UND as far as a namesake,” she said.

“I think that the entities that are involved in this should have another quick look through this,” she continued. “We need to get this right.”

She did state that to her the nickname issue was much lower on the list of priorities than issues like tuition and student debt. “Let’s get focused on what the mission of these colleges and universities are,” she said.

Still, she does believe that Kelley’s decision needs review.

“One more look at this and visit with everybody and come to a decision. President Kelley has some good viable reasons for making the decision he has. Let’s talk through this again and get it right.”

I can understand Neset’s stance. There clearly are a lot of other problems in the university system more deserving of the public’s attention. That said, someone needs to be the adult in the room on this nickname issue or it’s never going to go away.