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News :: Protest Activity |
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U Of I Board Of Trustees To Vote On The "Chief" |
Current rating: 0 |
by Brooke Anderson
Email: brooke (nospam) shout.net (verified)
Phone: (217) 493-2637 |
11 Nov 2003
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The University of Illinois Board of Trustees are planning to vote on the eliminate of "Chief Illiniwek" at their upcoming Board meeting in Urbana this Thursday. |
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Dear friends,
The PRC just learned last night the University of Illinois Board of Trustees will be voting on the elimination of "Chief Illiniwek" at their meeting on the Urbana campus this Thursday, November 13th. I am writing on behalf of the PRC to ask that, given the circumstances and that your organization has supported the anti-Chief movement before, that you please consider sending members Thursday morning to the Board meeting at 8:30a.m. in the Pine Lounge of the student Union to support the elimination of "Chief Illiniwek" in all it's forms (dance, logo, name, etc.).
If you could, please pass this email announcement below on to all of your members and let me know if you think you could send some folks to the meeting.
Thanks,
Brooke.
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--> URGENT ACTION ALERT: UI BOARD TO VOTE ON THE CHIEF ON THURSDAY!
Dear friends,
We just received word that University Board of Trustees member,
Frances Carroll, has put a resolution to eliminate "Chief Illiniwek"
on the agenda for this Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting in
Urbana. An article about the resolution, as well as the text of the
resolution itself, is below. Note that the resolution proposed to
eliminate the dance and logo of "Chief Iliniwek," but not the name
"Fighting Illini," nor does it acknowledge or condemn the racism
inherent in the "Chief."
Given the circumstances, we are urging all anti-"Chief" supporters to
attend the Board of Trustees public comment session this Thursday at
8:30am in the Pine Lounge of the Student Union, and stay for the vote
on the "Chief" to encourage them to eliminate the "Chief."
In addition, we encourage you to send an email to the Board of
Trustees encouraging them to vote to eliminate the the dance, logo,
and name of the "Chief Illiniwek." You can contact the Board via
their Secretary, Michele Thompson at <mthompsn (at) uillinois.edu> or
(217) 333-1920.
Thanks,
The PRC
============================
http://www.newsgazette.com/break/story.cfm?Number=133
BREAKING NEWS....
UI Board to vote on Chief
By JODI HECKEL, NEWS-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
Published Online November 10, 2003
Copyright 2003
URBANA The University of Illinois Board of Trustees will discuss
the fate of Chief Illiniwek Thursday, in a last-minute addition to its
meeting agenda.
The item was added to the agenda late Monday at the request of
Trustee Frances Carroll, who is sponsoring a resolution to get rid of
the Chief.
"I feel it's too much controversy," Carroll said about the Chief.
"It's tearing the university up. It's taken an inordinate amount of time
since I've been on the board. The issue never goes away. There is so
much emotion tied up in it. And it's offensive to a group of people. In
the year 2003, I think retirement of that symbol is absolutely necessary."
The vote will come during "Chief Week," as declared by the Honor the
Chief Society. The organization members have planned activities for the
week to show their support for the Chief.
Carroll said she believes a majority of trustees will vote with her
to retire the Chief. But she is prepared for "a dogfight."
"I don't see this as an easy thing," she said, adding she expects
some trustees may try to delay a vote on the issue.
"I'm geared up for the possibility," she said. "I think the main
issue is to get it on the agenda and let people vote it up or down. At
least we'll know where people stand, because I'm asking for a roll-call
vote. I really have the feeling that everybody feels it's time to make a
decision, but they may try to vote at another time."
Carroll said she was initially told she could not put the issue on
the agenda for the Thursday meeting because she didn't have enough votes
to do so. But she said a trustee doesn't need a certain number of votes
to add an item to an agenda.
Carroll said the issue is one she has wanted to have trustees deal
with since she was appointed to the board in May. She said she has been
requesting to have the issue put on the agenda since June, but she was
asked to wait until the fall. She also said she wanted the issue to be
discussed when the board met in Urbana.
Carroll said she, as a minority, is sensitive to how offensive the
Chief could be to another minority group. She is the only black trustee
and one of two minorities on the board.
She also said the UI risks its accreditation by not resolving the
Chief issue.
"Such a prestigious institution as the University of Illinois should
not be dealing with this issue," she said.
Carroll also said an August NCAA report "reiterated the need to move
on this."
The NCAA issued a report asking schools and conferences to examine
the use of American Indian mascots, nicknames and logos to determine if
they could be deemed offensive. It did not go so far as to ask schools
to discontinue using such symbols.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is an ex officio member of the board, but he
has not taken a stand on the issue.
"The governor has not taken a position and he believes this is an
issue for the board of trustees, and he'll leave that decision up to
them," said Blagojevich's spokesman, Tom Schafer.
The resolution the board will consider Thursday calls for the Chief
to be "honorably retired" and for the Urbana campus to decide how to do
that.
"It should have been a campus issue, but somewhere along the line
the trustees took it as our issue, so it's in our lap. We can't walk
away from it," Carroll said.
The resolution also calls for the board to support the name
"Fighting Illini" for the UI's athletic teams.
The last time the board voted on the fate of the Chief as the UI's
symbol was in 1990, when they voted to retain the Chief. Since then, the
board has held a two-day dialogue on the Chief in the spring of 2000 and
directed former Trustee Roger Plummer to prepare a report on the options
for dealing with the issue. He presented his report in March 2002. But
the board did not again put the issue of the Chief's future on the
agenda for discussion until now.
Former board Chairman Gerald Shea said last year the board was on
record to keep the Chief and he didn't intend to put the issue on the
agenda unless board members asked for it to be discussed.
For the past year, those on both sides of the debate have pressured
the board to discuss the issue at a meeting. When the board met in
Urbana last November, anti-Chief protesters, who were upset with the
lack of discussion on the issue, disrupted the meeting by chanting
during the public comment period.
. . .
Wording of the resolution
URBANA The following is the wording of the Chief Illiniwek
resolution the University of Illinois Board of Trustees will consider at
their Thursday meeting:
"Whereas, Chief Illiniwek has been a treasured symbol of the
Urbana-Champaign campus since the inception of Chief Illiniwek in 1926;
Whereas, many students have performed well and ably in the role of
Chief Illiniwek;
Whereas, Chief Illiniwek has been intended as a representation of the indigenous people who gave their name to this State and its Flagship University;
Whereas, Chief Illiniwek has represented the dignity, strength,
intelligence, and grace to which Illinois athletic teams have aspired;
Whereas, The native Illinois people, the Peoria, requested by
resolution on April 20, 2000, that the University discontinue the Chief
Illiniwek tradition;
Whereas, The continuation of the controversy centering on Chief
Illiniwek would undermine the very unity of the Illini family that the
symbol fostered so well for so long; and
Whereas, The controversy also diverts critical attention and
resources away from the core missions of teaching, research, service,
and economic development; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That Chief Illiniwek be honorably retired at a time and in
a manner to be determined by the Urbana-Champaign campus in consultation
with faculty, students, staff, alumni, and other members of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign family, and with concurrence
of the Board of Trustees;
Resolved, That the University discontinue its use of the graphic
image and likewise discourage others' use of that image; and
Resolved, That at the same time we, the Board of Trustees, declare
our full support for the name Fighting Illini for the athletic teams at
the Urbana-Champaign campus. This is a part of our heritage. We take
pride in the association that the University has through this name with
the people of Illinois."
You can reach Jodi Heckel at (217) 351-5216 or via e-mail at
jheckel (at) news-gazette.com. |
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Re: U Of I Board Of Trustees To Vote On The |
by ED
frozenthought (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
11 Nov 2003
Modified: 10:19:19 PM |
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If the University of Illinois Board of Trustees are indeed determined to remove Chief Illiniwek, I would like to offer a solution to the problem of a suitable replacement. I recommend that "Chief Illiniwek" be replaced with the "Fire Chief" & the "Illinois Fighting Illini" be replaced with "Illinois Firefighters". In this way, the University can keep a dignified chief that everyone can honor in the memory of the fire fighters who lost their lives on 9-11-01 & continue to risk their lives serving communities across the country every day. The university would be honoring real human beings performing real acts of heroism rather than continue to honor a fictional representation of dignity. In offering this solution, I do not in any way represent the PRC, AWARE or any of the other associated organizations in the Champaign-Urbana area that continue to protest the Chief but do not offer any viable solutions to the problem. |
