I attended the first half of the hearing.
I thought it was very productive, in that there was a representative of the NCAA Executive Committee there, and it's the first time I've ever heard them answer any questions regarding the inconsistency of their policy on Native American imagery and representations.
When questioned about the Florida State waiver, the response essentially was, "We still find the imagery hostile and abusive, but we defer to the decision of the tribe."
I thought that Rep. Tim Johnson did an excellent job with his opening statement, as did Rep. Vernon Ehlers ("The Flying Dutchmen") from Michigan. With one exception, the witnesses were excellent. Prof. Kaufmann was passionate, Rep. Chapin Rose was authoritative, and the others were informative.
The one witness I found to be a little disappointing (in terms of information presented - I was happy to have them as a witness) was a Mr. Franklin, representing the NCAA Executive Committee. His statement, if I may paraphrase, was that the NCAA disapproved so strongly that they felt compelled to act, but didn't address the lack of process, the capriciousness and inconsistency with which the ruling was applied, and the questions about the autonomy of the institutions involved, especially in Illinois, where state statute specifically states that the question of the symbol of the University of Illinois is a decision left to the University's Board of Trustees.
That said, I was not able to remain for all of the question-and-answer period. so it's possible that Mr. Franklin addressed these points after I left.
Did anyone else attend and have any thoughts?
1. The NCAA has no business in this business.
2. The Chief is not inherently hostile or abusive.
3. Anti-chief activists have convinced enough people that the Chief is hostile and abusive that it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
4. There's no way the Chief will make it much longer no matter what the NCAA does.
5. The university should retire the Chief quickly in a manner that is acceptable to the Chief's supporters.
This is fun!
1. Ammonium has no business on this board.
2. Ammonium is not a mammal.
3. Pro-Ammonium activists have convinced enough people that Ammonium is a mammal that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
4. There's no way that Ammonium can be stopped, no matter what is true and good.
5. We should just all accept that Ammonium is a mammal and may remain here in order to move on to the next step.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with you, but I thought the logic was interesting.
Heh.