Florida State Strikes Back: Baffled and angered at its inclusion on a list of schools with “hostile” or “abusive” nicknames or logos, Florida State responded to the NCAA Executive Committee by issuing an ultimatum for the committee to repeal the decision. School officials sent a notice to the NCAA committee demanding that it rescind Florida State’s inclusion on the list by Aug. 29, when classes start for the fall semester. If it doesn’t happen, the school will likely move forward in a potentially ugly legal battle.
A notable development is the apparent use of wrong information by the committee. The NCAA placed Florida State on the list in part because of objections from other Seminole tribes. Florida State has approval from the Seminole Nation of Florida to use the tribe’s likeness for logos and nicknames. The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma voted earlier this summer not to object to American Indian nicknames or logos. So the NCAA’s argument doesn’t hold water on that accusation.
Florida State has a cordial relationship with the tribe, including scholarships for tribe members, a plan to build a model of a chicktee village in Tallahassee, a pledge to help in the effort to build a Seminole history museum and the impending addition of a course on Seminole history.
[8/13/05]
