UND Officials and Students Weigh in on New “Fighting Hawks” Nickname

It is official! UND has a new nickname: Fighting Hawks.
 
It was the winner after three rounds of voting.

UND officials say they will be implementing the Fighting Hawks nickname immediately, but the full branding transition is going to take several months.
 
In a runoff vote between the Roughriders and the Fighting Hawks and more than 27,000 votes cast, Fighting Hawks took the win by a 57% majority.

President Kelley says it is an exciting time for the university.
 
“There is a bit of relief, I think it’s exciting though in a sense that we still have some work to do now. We got to find a process that will get us to a new image, a new logo, then how we develop that logo for our teams’ identities, and our university’s identity,” says President Kelley.
 
The university started its search for a new nickname after the NCAA deemed Fighting Sioux hostile and abusive in 2012.

So what will change?

UND will immediately begin using the name in its games, broadcasts, and website.
 
Out of all the other options students we spoke to say they like their new Fighting Hawks nickname, because it has a familiar ring to it.
 
Amy Breigencer is a freshman at UND and says the Fighting Hawks was the best out of the five, and the best out of the two, and the best one to choose.
 
“I’m kind of glad because I like that we got to keep the “Fighting” part. That’s just kind of something from the past, but also kind of something new,” said Breigencer.
 
UND Sophomore Trevor Moldenhauer says it is nice to finally have an end to all the controversy.
 
“It’s good to kind of move on from it. I guess we can all obviously say everybody’s going to say Sioux forever, always but we can just kind of do our own thing, and kind of develop our own things with it,” said Moldenhauer.

UND officials say the final logo design will be selected by summer.

You’ll be able to see UND’s athletic programs begin using the Fighting Hawks nickname and logo starting in the fall.