(Name-mce) ListServ University of Illinois decides to end Chief Illiniwek's run

[Anselmo Villanueva]

February 15, 2007

The University of Illinois was planning today to announce that it was
ending the use of Chief Illiniwek — a student dressed as an Indian who
performs at athletic events — but may be forced to change its plans
because of a lawsuit, The Chicago Tribune reported. The mascot's use
has been controversial for years, with American Indian groups calling
its use offensive and athletic boosters calling the American Indians
and their supporters politically correct or overly sensitive. But
Illinois officials, after long defending the mascot, may change their
stance under pressure from the National Collegiate Athletic
Association. The Tribune reported that two students who play the chief
filed the suit to block the action, and that the university is
awaiting the results of a hearing today before deciding whether to go
ahead and end use of the mascot.

Complete story below.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/illinois/cs-070215illiniwek,1,6252671.story?coll=cs-college-headlines

U. of I. decides to end Chief Illiniwek's run

By Jodi S. Cohen
Chicago Tribune higher education reporter

February 15, 2007, 11:26 PM CST

Unless a judge stops them, University of Illinois officials will
announce Friday that Chief Illiniwek, the controversial and storied
mascot who has performed for 81 years, is to dance for the last time
next week.

University officials had made extensive preparations for Friday's
announcement. But according to a source familiar with the university's
plan, the process took a turn Thursday when the two students who
portray the chief filed a lawsuit against the university and the
National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The students are seeking a restraining order that would prevent the
university from dumping the chief and would lift the NCAA's sanctions
against the university's sports teams. A Champaign County judge will
hear their application Friday morning in Urbana.

The university will decide how to proceed after that hearing, the source said.

The chief, a barefoot student who performs at athletic events in a
buckskin costume and feather headdress, made his first appearance on
Oct. 30, 1926, during halftime of the Illinois-Pennsylvania football
game. The tradition would end Wednesday at Assembly Hall, during
halftime of the varsity men's basketball game against Michigan, the
final home game this season for the Illini.

Retiring the chief would be a victory for those who have pressured the
university for years to dump the mascot, which they say is humiliating
and creates a hostile environment on campus.

It also would open the way for the university to host postseason
games, currently prohibited by the NCAA because Chief Illiniwek
violates the organization's rules, including next month's National
Invitation Tournament in basketball.

But the university's decision would be a bitter defeat for those who
have lobbied hard to keep Chief Illiniwek, saying it is a revered
tradition that honors Native American culture. It also could mean a
hit in alumni donations as the university embarks on a
multibillion-dollar fundraising campaign.Steven Raquel of Naperville,
who portrayed the chief in 1992 and '93, said he would be disappointed
if the tradition ended with only a few days' notice.

"It is a dishonorable ending to 80 years of an honorable tradition,"
Raquel said. "The tradition and the origins and the efforts that we
have made over the years have only been done in respect of the history
of Illinois and the history of the Illinois tribe. To see that linkage
and that appreciation go by the wayside … without an opportunity to
find common ground is disappointing."

Raquel said university officials did not tell the Council of Chiefs,
the group of 27 living alumni who portrayed Illiniwek, about their
decision.

Others, however, applauded the plan.

"It would be the end of the chief, but the beginning of finally having
our voices heard," said Charlotte Wilkenson, 32, a Native American
graduate student. "This will be a time when we finally honor the
people who have been fighting the issue, who have been saying all
along to retire the chief in name, in symbol, in performance."

In 2005 the NCAA ruled that Chief Illiniwek and some mascots at other
universities were "hostile and abusive." The resulting sanctions have
prevented the university from hosting men's tennis and women's soccer
championship games.

Last month, university board of trustees Chairman Lawrence Eppley said
a decision about the chief's future would be made this year in
response to the NCAA ruling. Eppley did not return a call seeking
comment Thursday.

The students' lawsuit against the university and the NCAA alleges that
being forced to abandon their positions as chief would violate, among
other things, their freedom of speech, academic freedom and future
economic earnings.

The students are Dan Maloney of Galesburg, who performs at men's
football and basketball games, and assistant chief Logan Ponce of St.
Charles, who performs at women's basketball and volleyball games.

According to their complaint, retiring the chief would damage their
reputations and jeopardize their ability to receive academic credit.
The students receive credit from the School of Music for portraying
Chief Illiniwek, according to the complaint.

"As has been the case for many former students who have portrayed
Chief Illiniwek, many valuable employment and career opportunities and
professional associations have been opened to those who have had the
privilege and honor of portraying Chief Illiniwek," according to the
lawsuit.

The lawsuit also argues that the NCAA failed to provide due process to
the students and the university when it issued the sanctions, citing a
1991 state law that requires certain procedures, such as hearings,
before penalties can be imposed.

In a similar lawsuit in North Dakota, a state district judge granted a
preliminary injunction in November that allowed the University of
North Dakota to keep its "Fighting Sioux" name and use of Native
American imagery without NCAA penalties pending a trial.

The U. of I. students' attorney, Brent Holmes, did not return calls
for comment. Maloney said he couldn't comment until after Friday's
hearing.

NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said Thursday that the NCAA believes its
sanctions are legal.

	

"We intend to aggressively defend our position if it comes to a court
hearing," Williams said. "We not only have the right but also the
obligation to ensure our NCAA championships are conducted in an
atmosphere free of racial stereotyping and one in which all of our
student athletes, athletic staff and fans feel comfortable."

Maneuvering over the chief has accelerated in recent weeks.

Last month the Oglala Sioux tribe that sold the university some of the
chief's regalia, including moccasins, peace pipe pouch, breastplate
and war bonnet with eagle feathers, demanded them back.

The university later found documentation that it already had returned
the eagle-feathered headdress to the tribe at Pine Ridge Reservation
in South Dakota.

On Feb. 1 university officials held a campuswide forum to address
racism on campus after a student who opposed the chief was threatened
on an Internet site.

Last week, the Council of Chiefs sent a letter to university President
B. Joseph White asking for ownership of the chief trademark.

Roger Huddleston, co-founder of the Honor the Chief Society, a
pro-chief group, said he would be interested in how things sort out
after the court hearing. But after years of debates about the chief,
this one may not end after all Friday, he said.

"It is never over until it's over," he said.

Tribune staff reporter Neil Milbert contributed to this report.

Jodi S. Cohen  jscohen at tribune.com