The University of Illinois announced that it would stop using its Native American mascot, Chief Illiniwek, at its Urbana-Champaign campus after the last men's home basketball game on Feb. 21. Chief Illiniwek has been the university's mascot for the past 80 years.
The University of Illinois's announcement comes at a time when Dartmouth is examining its relationship to schools that continue to use Native American mascots.
Whether a new mascot will replace Chief Illiniwek is yet to be determined, but any new symbol, the school's website explained, would not incorporate Native American imagery.
College President James Wright established a task force -- referred to as the Stam committee after the committee's chairman, government professor Allan Stam -- to investigate potential policy changes regarding scheduling athletic events against such institutions.
Wright's actions were made in response to a proposal which Athletic Director Josie Harper described in her apology for inviting the University of North Dakota to play in a Dartmouth hockey tournament because of the University's use of the Fighting Souix as its mascot.
The Stam committee will hold an open meeting on Thursday in Filene Auditorium.
Members of the Stam committee could not be reached for comment.
In accordance with a NCAA policy implemented in August 2005, the university was rendered ineligible to host post-season NCAA championship events as long as it continued to use a Native American mascot, University of Illinois lost its last appeal of this decision last April.
The NCAA said in a letter that the University will regain its eligibility as soon as its use of a Native American mascot is discontinued.
"The top focus for the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics is to compete for Big Ten and national championships while providing a positive educational experience for our student-athletes," athletic director Ron Guenther said on the university's website. "Personally, as an alumnus and former athlete, I am disappointed. However, as an administrator, I understand the decision that had to be made."
While the University will no longer use the Native American symbol, it will continue to be represented by the names the "Illini" and the "Fighting Illini," as these are references to the state of Illinois rather than to Native American culture.
Equally unclear is whether the University will return regalia purchased from a Sioux tribe in North Dakota in conjunction with the Chief Illiniwek mascot. The Sioux tribe has requested the return of its regalia, but no decision has currently been made, according to the University of Illinois' website.
Many alumni and trustees opposed the decision to abolish the Native American mascot, but the university said that the needs of its athletes and of the student body were of primary concern.
"While people differed on their opinions of the Chief, the overwhelming majority of those voices put their love for the University ahead of their opinion on the Chief," Lawrence Eppley, chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, said on the University's website. "Now we have the responsibility to work together to maintain other great traditions that will unite our community for decades to come."
