The Board of Alumni met with the director of the Athletic Department on Saturday with the specific intention of understanding why it decided to rename the UAF sports teams.

The decision to the change the name of the UAF Nanooks to the Alaska Nanooks sparked controversy this summer because many groups like the Alumni Board felt that they were not adequately informed about it before the press found out. On the national stage, the school will be simply referred to as University of Alaska.

"There was some concern that it wasn't conveniently vetted before the change," said John Davies, the head of the University of Alaska Alumni Association. "I read about it in the newspaper and it was a situation where the board should have been involved. Perhaps it was because it was announced before the university wanted it to be."

Since the board wasn't informed, it wasn't able to inform due-paying alumni about the change before it happened. Alumni provide thousands of dollars each year in donations and scholarships.

Worried about being left out of the loop, Davies organized the ex-post facto meeting Saturday with Athletic Director Forrest Karr.

Karr repeated his admission of fault in regards to the oversight.

"I didn't touch as many groups as I should," Karr said.

Karr presented a slide show to the board that highlighted the positive changes in the Nanooks, including a series of slides talking about other sports teams from other universities nationally with names affiliating the school with the entire state.

He cited the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which uses just a W or the word Wisconsin on its jerseys, as well as the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Florida.

Karr said he hopes the university's sports teams' affiliation with the state will end the confusion in the four different NCAA conferences in which the UAF has teams.

He said he was worried people would wonder "UAF, where is that?"

He also mocked the possible confusion with University if Alaska Anchorage, which plays in several of the same conferences. Anchorage is still UAA and the Nanooks are now UA.

The reason that the name change is possible without contestation is that the university in Fairbanks was the first institution in the state, Karr said. He mentioned a similar situation that allowed UNR, University of Nevada Reno, to become UN. University of California Berkley also has sports teams associated with the state, the "Cal" or California Bears, despite the schools notoriety as Berkley.

The slide show enumerated other factoids about the Nanooks like improving win percentages in almost everything, with the notable exception of women's volleyball.

Karr also mentioned his disappointment with the amount of both local and national press the sports teams get. He was hoping the name change would get the school more mentions on the national level.

Karr sentiments were supported at the Alumni Board meeting by Vice Chancellor John Poole.

"We don't get a lot of national coverage," Poole said. "Because of what Karr is talking about, that's the reason for the name change."

"They might not know where Fairbanks is, but Alaska is magic to everyone," Poole added.

Karr went on to pitch the idea for a new strength training and conditioning facility for the Nanooks, one that could possibly add 5,000 square feet to the area off the locker rooms at the Paddy Center.

The size of the current weight room prohibits teams from working out together and does not facilitate supervised workouts as athletes go in and out at all times of the day.

The proposed modification would be made next summer and could potentially cost several million dollars.

There were no opinions voiced against the name change at the Saturday meeting.

"I feel proud and inspired," said Laurie Cropley, the southeast representative on the board.