Ending the debate: crisis communication analysis of one university’s American Indian athletic identity

The use of Native American team identities is at the heart of a growing debate within our culture. More than 600 high schools and colleges have abandoned such identities. The controversy came to national prominence at the University of North Dakota when a wealthy donor threatened to let the North Dakota winter destroy his gift of a $100 million hockey arena if the university abandoned its Fighting Sioux identity. The public record of the university’s experience is robust and colorful. This paper views news coverage of the issue within Steven Fink’s framework of crisis stage analysis [Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable, iUniverse, Inc., Lincoln, NE], tracing the evolution of the issue, and supporting the assertion that attempts to reach a concluding stage are difficult when stakeholders have opposing definitions of what constitutes a successful outcome. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]