Push On To Pick New Mascot For Illini

November 13, 2010 9:16 AM

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (STMW) – Could Illini fans cheer for the Fighting Abe Lincolns? How about the Farmbots, Fire Chiefs or Doughboys?

More than three years after the University of Illinois board voted to retire the divisive Chief Illiniwek as the Urbana-Champaign campus symbol, students and faculty at the school are organizing in greater numbers to find a replacement.

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The Illinois Faculty Senate and the Illinois Student Senate both called for the creation of a new mascot. Twenty student groups organized as Students for a United Illinois picketed outside a recent non-university sponsored Chief event. And the university formed a committee to study the school’s values and find a new symbol representing it.

“I think the students and members of the university community believe having a new mascot will help our campus move forward,” said David Olsen, the student body president and a senior in the college of business.

While the Chief no longer participates in university events, Chief paraphernalia is still alive on campus. So is the “three in one” music that the Chief danced to.

The music, which plays at sports events, is part of the problem, anti-Chief students say.

“Students get up and re-enact everything the Chief has done,” said Teresa Ramos, a doctoral student in anthropology with Students for a United Illinois. “No one can move on.”

But as the faction pushing for a new mascot gets more organized, those who believe there is only one school symbol — the Chief — are digging in their heels.

The Next Dance, an event organized by Chief supporters, attracted 10,000 fans in 2008, 1,500 last year and 5,000 on the Oct. 23, 2010, homecoming weekend.

As talk continues about moving on from the Chief, Chief loyalists are urging fans to show their support.

“Our ultimate goal is to somehow bring it back on campus and reinstate it as NCAA-approved and one that is embraced by the university,” said Steve Raquel, who was the Chief in 1992 and 1993.

“At the end of the day the alumni finally realized we’re sick and tired of this,” said Raquel, now a 39-year-old Naperville resident who runs the website thechieflives.com.

“We have sat back and had been the silent majority and we asked them [Chief supporters] if you support us, come out.”

While Ramos is vocally anti-Chief, she believes many students are ambivalent on the issue.

While there are a lot of ideas floating around, both sides agree on one point — finding a new mascot everyone can embrace is going to take years.

Olsen said even if a new mascot isn’t immediately found he thinks the process of formally identifying common values on the Urbana-Champaign campus has merit.

“What’s really important in this whole issue is ensuring the campus is unified,” he said. “It’s going to take some time.”

xxtemujinxx

how’s about the “illinois earthworms”? it’s a clever three-fer: the earthworm contributes to the heath of illinois’ topsoil (and face it, chicago, ours is an economy heavily dependent on the agrarian sector); it’s a tip of the cap (or a flip of the bird) to the spineless administrators who allowed the unceremonious disposal of the chief; and … well, let’s face it: our athletic teams (at least — you know — the revenue sports … the ones that folks — you know — actually WATCH) have played more or less like our squishy little friends for the past several decades.

fizzlepizzle
xxtemujinxx

how’s about the “illinois earthworms”? it’s a clever three-fer: the earthworm contributes to the health of illinois’ topsoil (and face it, chicago, ours is an economy heavily dependent on the agrarian sector); it’s a tip of the cap (or a flip of the bird) to the spineless administrators who allowed the unceremonious disposal of the chief (and speaking of disposal … worms do the whole compost thing, right?); and … well, let’s face it: our athletic teams (at least — you know — the revenue sports … the ones that folks — you know — actually WATCH) have played more or less like our squishy little friends for the past several decades.

fizzlepizzle

NOTE: yes, there is no EDIT feature. so consider it a post so nice i made it twice.
BeecherIL

How about the Illinois Inmates? You could call the gym the Big House? We have a history of corruption, kickbacks and patronage that would rival any Cleptocracy in history. Let’s just be open and up front about it. Imagine a sea of orange and blue striped student section all with a large I on the back and their studen ID stenciled on. The Block I becomes the Chain Gang. Their are a ton of great Jail songs you could play after each touchdown, although to be honest we’ll only need on maybe two. Let’s face it Honest Abe was an aberration in our state. You could charge a set amount for a ticket and then make everyone pay more when they showed up, except for “select people”, wink , nod, they get in free. The concessions would be controlled by one connected group, and you could add tons of staff on the Ghost Payroll. It’ll be great!
sanguine

This is not a well-written article. It implies that the a name change is also on the table (and as far as I know, it isn’t), but fails to address that issue.
jack ryan

Since the politically correct crowd doesn’t like mascots of fighting Indian tribes, maybe they should have mascot that is a cowardly, drunk Indian/native American on welfare.
Shannon McClurg

There is no replacement for the Chief! I can think of no school symbol that is more honored, cherished and revered as Chief Illiniwek. My first encounter with the chief was as a small child(age 4). I was captivated. At his last performance (37 years later), he still had my complete attention. The sense of pride that Chief Illiniwek instilled in me and other Illini fans can not be duplicated. Long live Chief Illiniwek!
DTOM

How’s about the Screaming Libbies? P.C. B.S.!
Tom Napier ’73

A clarification is in order. The notion of selecting a “new mascot” is incorrect. The University of Illinois has never had a mascot. The university’s identity was forged long before mascots became popular with college athletic programs in the mid 20th century. The University of Illinois has never been represented by a distorted buffoon of a human figure, a fuzzy or feathered creature, or an animal whose name includes a roman numeral to represent his or her deceased predecessors. I pray it never will.