Editor,
A letter from 90 faculty and human rights organizations was recently sent to the presidents and athletic directors of NCAA Division I colleges and universities, urging them to adopt a policy to refrain from engaging in athletic competition with colleges and universities that maintain American-Indian imagery in their sports mascots.
This initiative followed the Aug. 5, 2005, ruling by the NCAA that it would no longer permit 18 member institutions with American-Indian mascots and imagery to host post-season sports tournaments.
The NCAA also urged colleges and universities not to engage in athletic competition with those institutions on their list of 18, a practice in place at the Universities of Iowa and Wisconsin.
The decision by the NCAA to intervene came after years of information gathering during which member institutions were given multiple opportunities to address why their sports programs should be permitted to remain outside the NCAA's nondiscrimination policies.
The ruling by the NCAA was based on a thoughtful review conducted by more than 40 presidents of member institutions.
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I write to urge students and faculty at UNM to establish a policy that would preclude your University from competing in athletic events with non-Native institutions that have American-Indian sports mascots. In so doing, you would join the many American-Indian nations who oppose the use of Indian mascots, as well as the National Indian Education Association, the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the NAACP, the American Psychological Association and many other civil rights, professional and religious organizations.
Stephen J. Kaufman
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Faculty
