11/18/03

Dear Friends,

We are writing to provide you with an update on the recent Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting in Urbana at which the Board was supposed to vote on a resolution eliminating Chief Illiniwek as the mascot and symbol of the University of Illinois. Read on for more information on a summary of Thursday's Board of Trustees meeting and the anti "Chief" response, the major victories won that day by the anti "Chief" movement, next steps, and how *you* can get involved to make sure the "Chief" is voted out in March when the BOT is back in Urbana.

Overview of the Events Thursday:

Pro "Chief" students began by attempting to "honor" Native Americans with tomahawk chops and chants. The BOT meeting then started at 8:30am with the public comments session, with 3 of the 5 speakers making statements against the "Chief." PRC members Imran Rashid and Christine Carr both made great speeches to the BOT. Another speaker, Roger Huddleston, a pro "Chief" community member attempted to decry the anti "Chief" movement and the PRC as a small "tyrannical," movement with no support or basis which brought humor to many people in attendance.

Trustee Carroll withdrew her resolution Thursday morning at the Board of Trustees meeting because she did not have the votes to pass it. Carroll said that she had the votes to pass the resolution eliminating the "Chief" the night before. However the Trustees changed their minds or got scared and one even ran from the difficult decision facing him. Trustee Shah was caught hiding in the Illini Union and not even showing up to the first part of the meeting. It makes it seem as though he was deliberately missing the section on the "Chief," he then snuck into the closed executive session that followed.

After the resolution was tabled BOT Chair Eppley announced that he had heard nothing new in the public comments session, urged both sides of the "Chief" issue to work for compromise, and bashed on the anti "Chief" movement for "infusing race into the issue"!

PRC led a disruption following Eppley's remarks which included people chanting "BOT Shame on You!" and unfurling a banner which read, "Racist Legacy Continues..." in front of the BOT members as they left. 70 anti "Chief" demonstrators followed the BOT down the hall to the Pine Lounge,
where they continued to chant outside the meeting and highlighted the BOT's going into closed executive session as undemocratic and a possible violation of the Open Meetings Act.

After 45 minutes of chanting, The UI Board sent out Trustee Schmidt as a representative of the Board to talk with the anti-"Chief" protesters. We
presented him with a card for the Board which expressed our "thanks" for their continuation of racism on our campus. Schmidt then fielded a few questions. He challenged both pro and anti "Chief" supporters to stop being so negative and develop positive ways we can remember "our native heritage." Someone in the crowd responded that we couldn't do anything to honor Native Americans while we continued to perpetuate racism on our campus with the presence of "Chief Illiniwek."

PRC members also thanked Trustee Carroll when she came out into the hall, for her strength in continuing to fight towards the elimination of the "Chief," set up a future meeting with her to discuss the issue, and asked her to bring up the resolution in March instead of the June date she originally had suggested. She agreed to meet with representatives of PRC and also to bring the issue to a vote at the March meeting here in Urbana. She thanked the anti "Chief" movement for its diligence and understood that the anti "Chief" disruption of the meeting was not targeting her, but rather her fellow Trustees who fell flat when they had the opportunity to take a stand for justice.

We must continue to be diligent and push all members of the BOT to support the elimination of the "Chief" at their March BOT meeting in Urbana, and remind them that there is no patience left for any kind of stalling tactics, or excuses. The elimination of the "Chief" will usher in a new era for our campus, and community in which true multi cultural education, has a chance to exist and we must be stringent in the pursuit of our goals.

Anti "Chief" Victories: 1) For the first time since 1990, there was a vote on Chief Illiniwek on the agenda of the Board of Trustees. And, for the first time in history, that resolution proposed to eliminate Chief Illiniwek. The very fact that this resolution was before the Board is a testament to the growing power of the anti-Chief movement and the limited days remaining for the Chief. 2) Trustee Carroll planned to reintroduce the resolution in July and PRC and other students got her to change it to March when students are still here! 3) The PRC secured future meetings with Trustee Schmidt, and Trustee Carroll. 4) U of I Chancellor Nancy Cantor publicly expressed her anger with the BOT's stalling tactics and highlighted the harm that this indecision has on multi-cultural education. She linked the delay of the resolution of the "Chief" issue with the Brown v. Board decision and other "issues of race and inclusion." GET ACTIVE: 1) Come to Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative meetings every Wednesday at 7:30pm at the Illinois Disciples Foundation to get more involved and make sure that this March will be the end of the racist "Chief" tradition. 2) Write to Trustee Carroll to thank her for taking a stand! At the BOT office: mthompsn@uiuc.edu 3) Write Chancellor Cantor to thank her for her courage in taking a stand! ncantor@admin.uiuc.edu 4) Write the other BOT members and tell them that the "Chief" must be gone in March! mthompsn@uiuc.edu     The text of the withdrawn resolution RESOLUTION CONCERNING CHIEF ILLINIWEK, THE SYMBOL OF THE ATHLETIC TEAMS AT THE URBANA CAMPUS Presented 11/13/03 by Trustee Carroll 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 ofTrustees; Resolved, That the University discontinue its use of the graphic image andlikewise discourage others' use of that image; and Resolved, That at the same time we, the Board of Trustees, declare our fullsupport 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.