UNDannouncesnicknamerunoffvoteweekofNov.

FightingHawks,RoughridersandNodakstobeonballot

VotingresultsareinfortheUniversityofNorthDakotanickname,andarunoffvotewill
takeplacetheweekofNov.2betweenthreenames:FightingHawks,Roughriders,
andNodaks.Therunoffvotebetweenthesethreenameswillbeheldforeligible
votersbeginningMonday,Nov.2atnoonCentralTimeandconcludingat11:59p.m.
Friday,Nov.6.

Thepreliminaryvote,whichconcludedFridaynight,Oct.23,at11:59p.m.Central
Time,yieldedthefollowingresults:

FightingHawks:6,960votes31.20percent

Roughriders:4,687votes21.01percent

Nodaks:4,571votes20.49percent

NorthStars:3,231votes14.48percent

Sundogs:2,858votes12.81percent

ThevotingguidelinespreviouslycommunicatedbytheUniversityprovided
thatanynamereceivingover50percentofvoteswouldbedeterminedtobe
theUniversitysnewnickname,andthatotherwisearunoffvotewouldbeheld
toalloweligiblevoterstochoosebetweenthetwotopvotegetters.However,
asthenumberofvotesforthesecondandthirdhighestvotegetters,
RoughridersandNodaks,differedbyonly116votes,UNDPresidentRobert

Kelleyhasdeterminedthatbothofthesenamesshouldremainontherunoff
ballotalongwithFightingHawks.

SaidPresidentKelley,Weappreciatetheparticipationandinputofthevoters,
andarepleasedthatwehavemovedforwardtothreefinalchoices.Welook
forwardtocompletingthelastimportantstepofthisprocessthroughtherunoff
vote.

Headded,Wewerealsopleasedatthenumberofeligiblevoterswho
participatedinthisprocessover22,000.ThisisthelargestresponseUND
haseverreceivedforaninstitutionwideonlinepoll.

TherunoffvotewillbeconductedthroughQualtrics,thethirdpartyonline
votingplatformproviderthatmanagedthepreliminarynicknamevote.The
runoffvotingperiodwillopenatnoonCentralTimeonMonday,Nov.2,and
willcloseat11:59p.m.onFriday,Nov.6.TheUniversityanticipateshaving
theresultsofthevotebyearlytheweekofNov.9.Thenamereceivingthe
mostvoteswillbethenewnicknameforUND.

Votingwillfollowthesameprocessusedforthepreliminaryvote,andwillbe
opentothefollowinggroups:

CurrentUNDStudents

CurrentUNDFaculty

CurrentUNDStaff

UNDRetirees

UNDAlumni

UNDDonors

CurrentSeasonTicketHolderstoUNDAthleticEvents

Voterswhofallintomorethanoneoftheabovecategoriessuchasastaff
memberwhoisalsoanalumnusmayonlyvoteonce,andanyidentified
multiplevoteswillbevoided.

Duringthevotingprocess,eligiblevoterswillcastonevoteforasingleoption
ontheballot.Eligiblevoterswillchooseoneofthreenicknameoptions(listed
belowinalphabeticalorder):

FightingHawks

Nodaks

Roughriders

OnMonday,Nov.2,priortotheopeningoftherunoffvoteatnoonCentral
Time,eligiblevoterswillreceiveanemailfromQualtricswithvoting
instructions.Thiswillbeadifferentemailthantheonevotersreceivedforthe
preliminaryvote.TheemailwillcomefromQualtricsandthetitlelinewillsay
RunoffVote.Votersshouldonceagainretainthisemailsothattheycan
followthevotinginstructionsitcontainswhenthevotingperiodopensatnoon
CentralTimeonMonday,Nov.2.Eligiblevotersareencouragedtocheck
theirjunkmail/spamfoldersiftheydonotseetheQualtricsemailintheir
inbox.