NSU Redmen Name Controversy -- Oct. 2, 2006 -- Collinsville, OK -- www.cvilleok.com

Ted,
This e-mail was sent to S.E. Ruckman, Tulsa World reporter as a response to the article "Cherokees reject NSU nickname" which appeared in the paper on September 29, 2006. Feel free to use any part of this article on your web site if you see fit. Thanks. It has been sent to the Muskogee Phoenix, The Tahlequah Ledger, The Collinsville News, as well as the Tulsa World.

Mr. Ruckman,

My name is Ron Evans, and I am the current president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.

Your article in this morning's paper (Sept. 29, 2006) is very disturbing for several reasons. How can tribal councilor Taylor Keen say that NSU doesn't have the same commitment as Dartmouth and Harvard as to their Indian Affiliation, when NSU had its beginnings as a Cherokee Indian Female Seminary??????

The NCAA allows schools to retain their Indian Monikers if the school has direct associative ties to that nickname. Why then, doesn't Northeastern State University fit that requirement? We started as an Indian school. What closer tie do we need?

Yes, President Williams spoke to the Alumni Association Board of Directors about the change, but only to tell us that it was going to happen. We were never asked for our input before that decision was made. At that time, we were told that it was his decision alone, and he was not being pressured by the Native Americans nor the NCAA. He chose to make the change because, in his words, "It is the right thing to do, at the right time, for the right reason."

Now however, the reason being given for the change is the ruling by the NCAA that was inadvertently overlooked. The NCAA gave NSU an opportunity to justify the use of the Redmen moniker, but President Williams chose not to defend it, saying it would be too time-consuming and too costly to do so. You would be shocked to learn how much will be spent to make the change!

Your article states that President Williams indicated the school has a graduate list of about 40,000, but few had taken an active stance on the issue.

I have received hundreds of e-mails from NSU alumni, assuring me that they had contacted President Williams about their "active stance" on the issue.

You will have to agree that the group of alumni, businessmen, Cherokee Chiefs and past Principal Chiefs, as well as local citizens of Tahlequah, numbering more than 200 who met to form a "Redmen Forever" steering committee have taken an "active stance" as well.

The council of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees, representing 12,000 members, took an "active stance" when they passed a resolution supporting the use of the Redmen Moniker.

However, the headline on your article states, "Cherokees reject NSU nickname".

Would it not have been more appropriate to say that the Cherokees were divided on the issue?

And Finally....President Larry Williams and VP Dr. Neil Weaver have done absolute wonders for our great university. Our faculty takes second place to none, our graduates are outstanding, the university is financially sound, and continued growth is very evident in both student enrollment and physical structures.

The addition of campuses at Muskogee and Broken Arrow are HUGE feathers in the bonnets of these two men (please excuse the pun), but the issue resulting from their decision is dividing the university and alumni, causing irreparable harm.

How much more can anyone emulate a group such as the Native Americans than honoring them by using the moniker Redmen? Oklahomans honor them with the statue of a Seminole brave atop the dome of our state capitol building. We honor them by displaying an Osage Indian shield on our state flag and on our state license tag. We honor them by using Native American names for our cities, towns, rivers, creeks, and perhaps most of all, we show honor with the name of our great state "Oklahoma"--Home of the Redmen.

Please note that I write you as an individual, and not to represent the NSU Alumni Association.

In summary....I am fully aware that there are those students and alumni who favor a name change, however, the overwhelming majority of the correspondence I have received from alumni is against the change.

Thank you for your time.

Ron Evans

Edited and agreed to by:
Dale Long, NSU Alumni Board of Directors and Oklahoma Teacher of the Year (1988)