UND is taking steps in another direction of the rebranding from the Fighting Sioux to the new Fighting Hawks nickname.

UND Today announced on March 6 that UND had a 17-person committee to determine the creature that would embody the spirit of the University of North Dakota. This is a clear-cut change in direction after the University of North Dakota administration chose to eliminate public opinion when electing a new logo two years ago.

This mascot revival was mainly driven in part of members of the UND Student government.

UND will be outsourcing the work to a design firm that has done some reputable work at the collegiate level, having created Brutus the Buckeye for Ohio State. The university opted to extend a near $32,000 contract to the Rickabaugh Graphics firm.

Some students who are considered to be die-hard hockey fans at the University of North Dakota, had quite a few things to say about this effort. Andres Pedersen and Blake Woolery, two individuals most students would recognize in the student section for the hockey games had expressed some concern.

“I didn’t hear about it until just before the Frozen Four when I read it online, and now I haven’t heard anything since,” Pedersen said. “Shady, I think it’s shady.”

Andres Pederson said, when discussing the entire selection process.

“I think we should have a trained hawk be our mascot, save some money on the creative process that probably won’t work,” Pederson said “There is no chance for the students to get any say with how this university ignores our opinions,” Pederson said.

UND is hoping their efforts to install this new mascot could potentially solidify the public image of the Fighting Hawk nickname after having lost the Fighting Sioux nickname a few years back.

“I think we should get a real hawk,” Woolery said. “However, we should actually look into getting a real hawk logo first, before we get a mascot. I don’t think the students really care or that their input should matter that much in choosing what it looks like, but letting them choose the [mascot] name would be a nice add in.”

Some students believe that the option for a real hawk should be explored.

“If we had a real hawk we wouldn’t have to lose even more money outsourcing something that represents UND as a culture when the company has little to no knowledge of what we really are as a culture,” A member of the UND club lacrosse ream, Alex Mills said.

As UND has seen in recent years with picking the name and logo, it’s difficult to please the entire public. Keeping the public involved is believed to be the general consensus for this effort to find a new mascot to represent UND at both sporting and non-sporting events. It’s safe to say that all of the UND community and the Greater Grand Forks community is hoping for the 17 individuals on the committee to pick competitive and pleasing options for the vote that’s set to take place just before finals week in May.

Nick Erickson is a sports writer for Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].