May 05--At an Illinois basketball game this winter, I spent halftime with a student and his support team who decorated him in war paint and adorned him with a Native American headdress.
Fans frequently walked by offering a thumbs-up and encouraging words.
After my story ran, Illinois fans emailed me, longing for the days of when the Chief mascot was recognized in Champaign and complaining about why it was banned by the university.
"The Chief lives in our hearts," one email read. "UIUC is in the toilet and deservedly so. A mascot will not revive this place."
Clearly in Champaign there is an emotional attachment to a mascot that was deemed by many, including Native Americans, as offensive.
My advice: Move on.
The university took a step this week to help that happen. Interim chancellor Barbara Wilson made a bold move by approving a student senate ad hoc committee's suggestion to find a new mascot. (Illinois calls this a first mascot because they refer to the Chief as a "symbol.") )
A committee will seek new options for the mascot.
"I am optimistic that this initiative will help build school spirit and loyalty beyond athletics," Wilson said in a statement.
Eventually, with the introduction of a new mascot, Illinois fans' frustration about the banning of the Chief in 2007 will become something only "old" alumni get worked up about. The Illini will keep their team name, rightly so.
But it's time now, like it was decades ago, to embrace a new team symbol and cut nostalgic heartstrings to something that offended the very people Chief proponents ironically said they were honoring.
Of course, fans will complain no matter what Illinois chooses. (Previously, when discussions about a new mascot arose on campus, a squirrel was a mascot candidate, so they have the right to be skeptical.)
Really, most mascots are ridiculous.
Someone thought a grumpy leprechaun at Notre Dame was intimidating? Who or what is Brutus Buckeye? Can you imagine the ire if Illinois introduced an amphibian like TCU's horned frog?
Indiana, a rare team without a mascot, does fine without anyone dressed up in a costume on its sideline.
But Illinois needs something to help it unite the campus after decades of divisiveness.
North Dakota changed its name from the Fighting Sioux to the Fighting Hawks in response to a decades-long battle with the NCAA and criticism from American Indian tribes.
The Illini could also help establish a national tone and be another example for fans struggling to let go of their team's offensive mascot stereotypes, such as the Washington Redskins' image, Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo and numerous high school teams' mascots across the country.
Jay Rosenstein, an Illinois professor of media and cinema studies, has for years urged the university to permanently remove the Chief and to move on.
"It's fine to say when this Chief thing started it was done with best of intentions and the people who supported it supported with best of intentions," he said. "Times change. Speaking as someone involved (in this debate) for 25 years, I do not think it will close the chapter, but I think it's a good thing and they pull us a little further away."
sryan@tribpub.com
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