As the University of North Dakota prepares to retire the Fighting Sioux name and logo after the end of the current academic year, the future of Engelstad Arena and its 2,200 or so embedded Sioux logos is addressed by school officials.
Engelstad Arena isn’t actually owned by the University of North Dakota: it is privately owned by the Engelstad Family Foundation.
However, the agreement between UND and the NCAA to drop the name will apply to The Ralph as well, as changes in the facility will be phased in over time.
Basically, the logo appears in three different states: in historic artifacts, as permanent architectural fixtures and as temporary decorative effects. The permanent architectural fixtures are things like the Sioux statue outside the arena and carved in the granite in the entryways. The temporary effects are things like Sioux logos embedded in carpets.
None of these will need to be changed immediately. However, as things change and carpets wear out, anything to be installed must not contain the Sioux logo. Don’t look for a lot of dramatic changes to the Ralph any time soon; the real NCAA target was the name and logo, not the arena.
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