PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 23, No. 15, March 4, 2004

Trustees postpone vote on Chief Illiniwek

UI Trustee Frances Carroll said she will not reintroduce her motion to retire Chief Illiniwek as the symbol of athletic teams on the Urbana-Champaign campus when the UI Board of Trustees holds its regularly scheduled meeting on March 11 in Urbana.

“I am a consensus builder, and it is important to me that consensus be reached on this topic before I bring it back to the board. Therefore, I am withholding the resolution,” Carroll said.
Carroll did not set a time frame for when the board should act on the Chief.

Chief Illiniwek has been an iconic figure on the Urbana-Champaign campus since 1926. In recent years, the Chief’s presence has put the university at the center of a debate between those who revere Chief Illiniwek as a symbol of the spirit of the campus and those who consider it anachronistic. The board of trustees approved a resolution in 1990 to affirm Chief Illiniwek as the symbol of athletic teams on the Urbana campus.

Carroll proposed at the board of trustees meeting last November that Chief Illiniwek be retired as the symbol of athletic teams at the Urbana-Champaign campus, but her motion called for retention of the name “Fighting Illini” for the teams. She withdrew the proposed board resolution, Carroll said, when it became apparent the measure lacked the votes necessary for approval. Carroll indicated at the time she would bring the motion forward again at the board meeting scheduled for March.

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