Illinois is finally Chief free! I'm joining the Alumni Association
Fantastic news. Finally, finally, finally, the University of Illinois is shedding an embarrassing vestige of a racist time and retiring the white dude who jumps around in a Native American costume. Thank goodness someone had the testicular virility to cut off the endless non-debate and modernize our image with one executive decision. I love it.
Progressive alumni of the University, now is the time to reward bold initiative. Send them money. The Alumni Association is here and the University Foundation that will take your gifts is here.
My guess is that the bogeyman of petulant alumni who will withhold their millions from the University are likely to be the people who send the money exclusively to the Athletics Department. And if Athletics takes a hit for a few years, I really don't care. The University's culture and priorities are already too skewed towards the sports teams anyway. Higher education is likely our best economic engine for the next few decades, and we should be pouring resources into higher education to generate economic returns. The dancing Chief was a distraction and worse, a symbol of a less-innovative, less-modern and less-progressive state -- particularly in East Central Illinois where we have the opportunity, still far from fully realized, to attract global talent and capital for technology-driven businesses -- than Illinois actually is.
Congratulations to Chairman Eppley (assuming he goes through with it). Today is a good day for the future of Illinois.
[cross-posted at djwinfo]
17 comments:
I think it's funny that Illinois Review -- the source for so much "Getting rid of the Chief is evidence of PC-evilness" blather -- is also the place the world turns to find the original source of the "Obama's church uses the word 'black' and that is concerning"... What is that all about, some sort of conservative version of PC (black churches aren't allowed to use the word "black")?
Does Fran Eaton even realize the hypocrisy that she promotes with her bizarro reverse political correctness?
Rich should have an open thread (maybe he did many moons ago, I can't recall) seeking new mascots for UIUC. "The Fighting Lincolns" always stuck out in my head from my student days. Could have 'Honest Abe' run out at halftime of basketball games, and bring a dance back for football too. Then Dick Vitale could get on a tear and annoy everyone yelling about "Flying Lincolns" if Coach Weber can get another team to the Final Four...
And pretty soon a bunch of conservative Republicans will start complaining that 'Honest Abe' dancing at halftime is not PC by their standards and we'll have to start all over. ;)
Didn't you see Barack's announcement? President Lincoln is *ours* now....
I still say the Illini should have a nice, non-offensive mascot like we Eastern Illinois alums had: a halfway drunk guy in a panther costume. Go Billy Panther! Woo-hoo!
The "Fighting Lincolns" is dumbest idea out there. Do you really think the best way to recover the "serious reputation" that the university (at least the anti-chief crowd) wants to recover is to have Honest Abe breakdancing during half-time shows? I guess being seen as idiots is better than being seen as racists. Just assign some random animal as the mascot and get on with it!
IL voter,
Take a chill pill.
It was a joke poll from the Daily Illini from about a dozen years ago.
Relax and go back to pecking at your keyboard, friend.
I am constantly amazed at the hypocrisy of the liberal. Most forms of art/dance/expression are sacrosanct as long as they pick on religion or celebrate AIDS. God forbid you try to emulate an extinct Native American group.
Oh wait, this is just another meaningless gesture designed to convince people that liberals care.
The University of Illinois should get rid of its most embarassing image: a Board of Trustees that cave to a little pressure from those who don't appreciate tradition and symbolism.
Sweet Jesus. If the performance of the university's athletic teams is the result, as Dan says, of the University's culture and priorities being too skewed toward the sports teams, what does that say about the performance of the rest of the University?
Cute, Steve. That's not what I said, but still funny.
I can't wait for the Providence Friars to get rid of the fat Dominican. Very degrading to St. Dominic.
JBP
"The dancing Chief was a ...symbol of a less-innovative, less-modern and less-progressive state -- particularly in East Central Illinois"
is some of the most pathetic historical revision I have ever read. While the Chief was dancing, Hybrid Corn, The Integrated Circuit, The Digital Computer Laboratory, Lotus Notes, Eudora Mail, Mosaic, Netscape, Spyglass, and PayPal were developed at the University of Illinois.
Less-Innovative than what?
It seems very probable that the innovators were able to separate a halftime routine from innovation.
JBP
Let's face it. The Chief's dance routine was pretty embarrassing and frankly disrespectful of Native American ceremonial customs and traditions. It has no place at an institution of higher learning. It's time to move on and bring the focus back on what the university can do to make our little world a better place to live.
Lets face the dance rountine was just silly. Illini should go to a Minstrel show instead.
I'm a graduate of U of I. If this politically correct nonsense was going on when I was choosing a school, it might have scared me away from U of I. It's a bad reflection on the school and it's priorities.
There could be a hidden cost here. The quality of the student applicant pool could suffer.
ANyone who finds Illiniwik offensive is a silly dolt IMO. I find Notre Dames mascot much more offensive. Perhaps I should find some non-Irish folk in joining me to save the poor Irishmen from this offensive charicature!
How about the Illinois Running Mormons? Didn;t you guys run them out of here lik eyou did the red man? Not that anyone who did it is still alive
"The quality of the student applicant pool could suffer."
LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!
Seriously, that was high comedy. Thanks for the laugh.
Thank goodness the Chief Illiniwek controversy came up! I had missed the Salem Witch Trials when they took place several centuries ago so now I can get a chance to see them take place again in "real time". Burn the image of Chief Illiniwek at the stake and then let's lop off his head for good measure. That non-offensive symbol of one of our state's original inhabitants was just too tempting of a target for the "Politically Correct Police".
I did not attend the University of Illinois. If I had, I would probably be too ashamed to admit it right now . If I had attended the University of Illinois, I would start withholding all future financial contributions to my former school until they threw Ken "The Gutless Wonder" Schmidt off of the board of directors. He personifies everything I would "NOT" want my kids to acquire in the way of character traits. This guy would probably have offered the terrorists the Sears Tower after they destroyed the Twin Towers as long as they said they would then leave us alone.
The Chief Illiniwek controversy and it's ultimate outcome simply proves my theory that the world has gone completely nuts. By the way, I want to change the red, white, and blue American flag to include the color green to exemplify the suffering and contribution that my Irish ancerstors made to our country. The red, white, and blue colors are "no longer time-appropriate symbols" as Ken Schmidt would refer to them. Then, my wife requests Emil Jones to introduce a senate bill that would forever banish the term, "First Lady" because it makes it seem as if women have only recently arrived at our nation's capitol and thus it is demeaning to her gender. She has been crying herself to sleep each night over this slight. Yes, much like when General Cornwallis knew that it was time to play "The World Has Turned Upside-Down", perhaps we should start humming a few bars of it here in Illinois.
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