July 12, 2006
Anti-"Chief" Update
AND Action Alert
Dear Anti-"Chief" Supporters,
On Thursday, the University of Illinois Board of Trustees
(BOT) will be meeting at UIC. This is the second meeting of the BOT
since the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Executive
Committee denied U of I's appeal regarding "Chief Illiniwek"
on April 28, 2006. Despite the NCAA ruling, the issue of the "Chief"
has yet again been left off of the BOT's meeting agenda.
For more information about the NCAA's appeal decision,
please visit http://www.prairienet.org/prc/anti.html/Archive/ncaa4-28-06.html.
The U of I's BOT meeting is important because the Public
Comment Session component of their meeting is one of the few ways we
can voice our concerns directly to the BOT, the only group with the
power to eliminate "Chief Illiniwek."
And the Board has supposedly been working on the issue,
but they have only pushed a clearly pro-"Chief" agenda! As
part of the Board's "Consensus Conclusion," senior U of I
officials met with several former "Chief Illiniweks" in June.
"As part of the consensus process, members of the
board of trustees and the current and former presidents over the years
have met on numerous occasions with individuals and groups advocating
certain positions and possible ways to resolve the issue. The bottom
line is, the University of Illinois remains in noncompliance with the
policy and the board consensus process continues to move forward,"
U of I spokesperson Thomas Hardy recently said (http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local2006/06/13newest_chief_waits_to_hear_his_fate).
Yet, the Board has yet to contact anyone from the anti-"Chief"
movement, despite our open invitations to meet. Resolution of the "Chief"
controversy is far off when the supposed leaders of the University engage
in a clearly flawed and one-sided "consensus" process and
continue to be in violation of the NCAA decision!
TAKE ACTION!
1. Join us in attending the BOT meeting and stand in
solidarity with the anti-"Chief" supporters. The meeting is
Thursday, July 13 at 9:30am in Chicago Rooms B & C of the Student
Center West (U of I, Chicago campus), located at 828 S. Wolcott Avenue
in Chicago.
2. Email or call the BOT this week! Let them know that
it’s not just the NCAA who thinks the mascot is "hostile
and abusive." Call on them to engage in substantive dialogue and
to take action! You can contact the Board through the BOT Secretary,
Michele Thompson, at mthompsn@uiuc.edu,
(217) 333-1920, or by mail at 352 Henry Administration Building, 506
S. Wright St., Urbana, IL 61801. Please cc prc@prairienet.org
on your emails to the Board.
Possible Talking Points:
- Every national Native organization who has taken a stance on the
issue has spoken against the use of race-based mascots.
- Other organizations have spoken out against the use of the "Chief,"
including: National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), North
Central Association (who accredits the U of I), U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights, National Education Association, U.S. Department of Justice,
UIUC Diversity Committee, UIUC's College of Medicine, School of Life
Sciences, Departments of Anthropology, English, History, Psychology,
Sociology, and many more.
- The "Chief" is a stereotypical and racist representation
of Native people; it promotes such stereotyping and jeopardizes the
quality of education at the U of I. It has also resulted in the harassment
of Native American students, students of color, and anti-"Chief"
activists that has included the use of racist language and acts of
vandalism.
- The U of I Board's attempt for a "Consensus Conclusion"
to resolve the "Chief" controversy is flawed in multiple
ways. First, issues of civil and human rights CANNOT be solved by
consensus, but by societal change that recognizes and protects those
rights being violated. Second, the U of I Board's own Plummer Report
clearly stated that no compromise could be reach, the only options
are to remove or to retain the "Chief." Finally, the U of
I Board has redefined consensus to be the consensus of those who agree
with their pro-"Chief" agenda, as they have been meeting
with pro-"Chief" groups and individuals, yet not engaging
in dialogue with any anti-"Chief" activists. We demand a
meeting with Chairman Eppley and other members of the U of I Board
to discuss the racist mascot and symbol of U of I!
- The U of I senior officials are the ones responsible for the damage
the U of I community receives as a result of the presence of a racist
mascot and the only way to resolve the issue is to ELIMINATE the "Chief"
in its entirety: the name, dance, and logo.
For more information, call the PRC at (217) 352-8721 or send an email
to prc@prairienet.org. Visit our
website at www.prairienet.org/prc.
In solidarity,
The PRC
