UND Nickname Close To Selection

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The UND community will soon be able to vote on the school’s new nickname, and North Dakota is off the list for good.

UND officials released a timeline showing when and how the nickname will be chosen.
 
Voting for UND’s new nickname will take place mid–October online.

Only people from the UND community will be able to vote.

There are five nicknames people can choose from; Fighting Hawks, Nodaks, North Stars, Roughriders and Sundogs.

Some in the community were hoping to keep the “North Dakota” nickname, but leaders say they want to add something else.
 
“This step of selecting the new nickname will give us the opportunity to build on our pride in being North Dakota,” said University & Public Affairs VP Susan Walton.
 
Voting will be open to current UND students, faculty and staff, UND retirees, alumni and donors, and current season ticket holders to UND athletic events.

Some students we talked to weren’t too upset about losing the “North Dakota” option.
 
“North Dakota just sounds weird and too like, general. I think that we need kind of a sort of mascot to describe the school,” said UND Freshman Rhandi Larson.
 
“Most of the students I talked to on campus say they don’t really have a strong opinion on nickname selection.”
 
“I can’t say I don’t care, ’cause I mean I do go to UND, but it doesn’t matter to me too much I guess,” said UND Freshman Mitchell Nistler.
 
“I don’t really have a huge opinion. I mean I think that we need a nickname, but if it was up to me I wouldn’t really care,” said UND Senior Kelsey Hemberger.
 
If any nickname receives more than 50 percent of the vote, officials say that name will be UND’s new nickname.
 
If no single nickname receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff vote will be held between the two top vote–getters.