NCAA and Indian Names NCAA and Indian Names

Apparently, the NCAA is prohibiting teams with (most) Indian names from hosting post season games. The president of the Florida State Seminoles is considering legal action against the NCAA.

What is interesting here is that the Seminole Indians appear to be quite happy with that nickname for the school. Some have suggested that they sell at least some logoed products to the school, and, thus, stand to lose money as a result of this. In any case, you would think that their views on the subject would trump those of the NCAA. They apparently don't. By all indications, the NCAA is unmoved by the views of the Indian tribe involved. They stated:

"Colleges and universities may adopt any mascot that they wish, as that is an institutional matter," said Walter Harrison, chair of the NCAA Executive Committee and president at the University of Hartford. "But as a national association, we believe that mascots, nicknames or images deemed hostile or abusive in terms of race, ethnicity or national origin should not be visible at the championship events that we control."

As I noted, this is regardless of whether the Indian tribe involved thinks that the use of their name is hostile or abusive.