U. of I. Is Advised To Keep Or Drop The Chief
By Meg McSherry Breslin, Chicago Tribune
Thursday, March 14, 2002
Urbana -- A new report to trustees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign says the board has two options regarding the controversial Chief Illiniwek mascot: vote to retain it or vote to retire it.
Setting the stage for a possible resolution to the issue, Trustee Roger Plummer issued his report on the fate of the symbol to a packed meeting with pro- and anti-chief enthusiasts on campus Wednesday.
In the report, "Seeking a Compromise--Chief Illiniwek," Plummer concluded no compromise could be reached. He said his colleagues should soon vote on whether to keep the 75-year-old tradition at the state's flagship university.
Plummer spent nine months interviewing more than 50 individuals and groups with differing opinions on the chief. He concluded after those meetings that neither side would be satisfied with a compromise.
"The positions staked out on all sides of the chief issue ... make the development of a solution acceptable to dedicated and determined pro- and anti-chief individuals or groups virtually impossible," Plummer said.
He recommended that if the board decides to retain the chief, it should work to reverse the "marginalization" of the chief over the last several years by making changes that make the mascot "less offensive" and build other programs around it to revitalize the tradition. He said that if retained, the chief's dance and image should remain, along with the terms "Fighting Illini" and "Illini."
If the board should decide to retire the chief, including the dance, trustees should allow for a transition plan and work toward a retirement that is an "honorable one that does not demean, devalue or apologize" for the decades-old tradition. He said if the chief is retired, the symbol should be "memorialized in perpetuity" and there should be separate recognition for the role Native Americans
have played in the state's history.
Plummer, a University of Illinois alum, has previously stated he supports the chief but said he listened to both sides of the issue with an open mind.
On Wednesday Plummer refused to say how his colleagues should decide, stating that he would withhold his personal views until the full board votes in the coming months. However, Plummer said he worries about the impact of the controversy.
"The university is not well-served when we have an issue that's creating so much turmoil on campus," he said.
Chief Illiniwek is typically portrayed by a student who paints his face, wears a headdress representing the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe and dances at football and basketball games.
Advocates regard the chief as a cherished symbol and Illinois tradition, but faculty groups, national church organizations and many advocacy groups have denounced it as a demeaning caricature that offends Native Americans.
The board of trustees hoped to end the Illiniwek controversy in 1990 when it passed a resolution reaffirming its use as a symbol of Illinois athletic teams. But opponents, often including Native Americans from across the country, continued to push for its elimination.
A campuswide dialogue was held on Illiniwek last school year, concluding with a 70-page report prepared by a former Cook County circuit judge summarizing the varying opinions but reaching no conclusion. That report ended with a question: "Is there no possibility of a compromise?"
Board Chairman Gerald Shea asked Plummer to search for that compromise. The chairman praised Plummer's report as a thorough examination of the issue and said he hopes to see a final vote in July.
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