PAGE 1
1
2
3
4 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
5 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
6
7 SPECIAL INTAKE SESSION
8 DIALOGUE ON CHIEF ILLINIWEK
9
10 APRIL 14, 2000
11
12 FOELLINGER AUDITORIUM
13
14 Mediator:
15
Mr. Louis Garippo, Esquire
16 Cahill, Christian & Kunkle, Ltd.
224 South Michigan Avenue, 13th Floor
17 Chicago, Illinois 60604
18 Board of Trustees:
19 William Engelbrecht, Chair
Martha O'Malley
20 Roger Plummer
David Cocagne
21 Kenneth Schmidt
Melissa Neely
22 Judith Reese
Arun Reddy
23
24
PAGE 2
1 I N D E X
2 NUMBER SPEAKER PAGE
1 Howard Wakeland 8
3 2 Debbie Reese 14
3 Charlene Teters 22
4 4 Rick Legue 27
5 Dawn Neisen 33
5 6 Mike Drish 37
7 Michael Haney 41
6 8 Hank Hanneken 50
9 William J. Roberts 55
7 10 Jean Edwards 56
11 Brooke Anderson 62
8 12 John Mamminga 70
13 Christine Redcloud 77
9 14 Anthony Enright 82
15 Faith Smith 89
10 16 Roger Huddleston 96
17 Rosalyn LaPier 102
11 18 Brian Silverman 108
19 R.J. Smith 112
12 20 Vanessa Casillas 113
21 Jayne Blacker 116
13 22 Julian B. 118
23 Beverly Moser 118
14 24 Imani Bazzell 122
25 Stephen Kaufman 128
15 26 John Madigan 137
27 Paula Ostrovsky 141
16 28 John Menees 145
29 Belden Fields 148
17 30 Ralph Trimble 152
31 Roger Simms 155
18 32 Linda Duke 158
33 Brenda Farnell 161
19 34 J. Michael O'Byrne 165
35 Jay Rosenstein 168
20 36 Neena Hemmady 171
37 Michael Mondelli 174
21 38 Wayne Crue 176
39 Cyd Crue 179
22 40 Leanne Reetz 183
41 Frederick Hoxie 187
23 42 David Fried 191
43 Alma Gottlieb 195
24 44 Robert Morgan 198
PAGE 3
1
NUMBER SPEAKER PAGE
2
45 Rebecca Crummey 201
3 46 Adam Chaddock 205
47 Paul Hixson 209
4 48 Dennis Payne 213
49 Laura Schmitt 215
5 50 Lynda Long-Fainter 217
51 Elaine Gehrmann 221
6 52 Janna McGregor 224
53 Henry Emerle 228
7 54 Lisa Johnson 231
55 Andy Erickson 233
8 56 Joe Peralez 236
57 Roxie Grignon 239
9 58 Todd Isler 240
59 Jake Cramer-Heuerman 245
10 60 Bruce Two Eagles 248
61 Monica Garreton 251
11 62 Norman Denzin 255
63 Fred Cash 258
12 64 Dino Pollock 261
65 Agnes Simms 264
13 66 Carol Spindel 267
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
PAGE 4
1 CHAIRMAN ENGELBRECHT: Good morning. My
2 name is Bill Engelbrecht, I currently serve as the
3 chair of the Board of Trustees. I would like to
4 welcome you to this special intake session this
5 morning on the dialogue on Chief Illiniwek. For
6 the record, I need to say that this is not, that
7 this is a special intake session, moderated by
8 Judge Louis Garippo and it is not a regular
9 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
10 I would like to introduce the members of
11 the Board of Trustees, on by left, Martha
12 O'Malley, Roger Plummer, to my far right, Trustee
13 David Cocagne, Doctor Kenneth Schmidt, Melissa
14 Neely and Judith Reese.
15 As you know, the first phase of the
16 dialogue is given over to listening to as broad a
17 spectrum of opinion as we could possibly muster.
18 We have received more than 10,000 letters and
19 e-mail messages since we began the dialogue
20 process on January 13. In the fall, we will hold
21 a response session and offer you our views on the
22 issues that all of you have raised.
23 We will be listening today intently to
24 the various presentations and I hope all of you
PAGE 5
1 will as well. This session presents all of us
2 with a unique opportunity to hear the many diverse
3 points of view.
4 I hope that you will all leave today's
5 session with an enhanced sense of each other's
6 view on this very challenging issues. Judge Louis
7 Garippo has agreed to moderate this session and to
8 present the Board of Trustees with a report late
9 this summer. It will summarize the various
10 communications in ways that permit us to respond.
11 We are grateful to him for this undertaking on
12 this very challenging assignment. Judge Garippo
13 is an attorney in private practice with Cahill,
14 Christian and Kunkle, Ltd. He is a former Circuit
15 Court judge in Cook County. He earned his law
16 degree at DePaul University and a bachelor's
17 degree from the University of Notre Dame. I would
18 like to turn the proceedings over to Judge
19 Garippo.
20 MODERATOR GARIPPO: Thank you, Chairman.
21 I knew I could draw a real crowd here today. I am
22 glad that there is enough support staff here to
23 constitute somebody to listen to us. But I am
24 sure as the day goes on, that people will come in
PAGE 6
1 and hopefully somewhat fill this auditorium to
2 listen to the dialogue on this issue which has
3 generated so much interest on campus and off of
4 campus.
5 My function is to present a report later
6 this summer which will clearly and fairly
7 articulate the arguments on both sides of this
8 issue. And I will not have fulfilled my mission
9 if when I prepare my report if that, if any
10 position is not fully and fairly stated.
11 It is my hope to begin today in this
12 dialogue session to try to pull together all the
13 sources available to me in order to generate this
14 report.
15 Now, this intake session is just a
16 fraction, although a significant fraction, of what
17 will go into formulating the various opinions on
18 this subject. We will have the, the sources will
19 be the e-mail, the e-mails to the dialogue, the
20 dialogue web site, and the letters, past
21 correspondence, the internet just contains a vast
22 amount of information. And I welcome anyone
23 sending either directly to me or through the
24 University, any suggestions that you might have to
PAGE 7
1 completely air this, air this problem.
2 Now, in selecting the speakers today,
3 there were more speakers than we had time, than we
4 had time to a lot to them. So I enlisted the aid
5 of people on both sides of this issue in order to
6 pare down the list.
7 On the pro-Chief side, Howard Wakeland
8 of the Save the Chief organization was helpful to
9 me in identifying those people who could identify
10 and articulate their, the point of view that his
11 group was coming from.
12 On the other side, I enlisted the aid of
13 Paula Ostrovsky and Michael Haney who actually
14 happen to be in Chicago and they came to my
15 office. And we went over the list and there were
16 far more organizations than we had time for. If
17 we gave all the time to the organizations, there
18 wouldn't be time for individuals.
19 So the organizations were limited,
20 however, many, most of the organizations are still
21 represented as individuals on the list. So we, we
22 are trying to allocate the time fairly and we are
23 going to have a procedure today whereby we will
24 use two microphones. They will be alternating,
PAGE 8
1 not necessarily always back and forth, but I will
2 announce who will be at each microphone and we
3 will have a speaker for a microphone and we will
4 have someone in the on deck position ready to go
5 so that when we switch back and forth so the
6 microphones, we will be able to not lose any time
7 so that most of the time can be spent with the
8 actual dialogue.
9 Actually, none of us is experienced in
10 conducting a hearing like this, so perhaps the
11 first few speakers, there may be a few hitches in
12 our procedure, bear with us. I am sure by the end
13 of the day we will be experts. So we will begin.
14 And I would like Howard Wakeland to be at
15 microphone No. 2, Debbie Reese to be at microphone
16 No. 1. And the person following Debbie Reese at
17 microphone 1 will be Rick Legue and the person
18 following Howard Wakeland at microphone will be
19 Charlene Teters.
20 Mr. Wakeland, if you represent an
21 organization, as you speak, if you will identify
22 the organization that you are representing.
23 MR. WAKELAND: Thank you, I represent
24 the save the Chief organization and copies of my
PAGE 9
1 statement are here on the edge of the platform
2 should somebody want one.
3 A little over a year ago I had the
4 privilege to address the Board of Trustees on this
5 issue. A copy of my presentation is attached to
6 this handout. At that time, we presented over
7 1500 petitions from more than 200 Illinois cities
8 and more than 30 states supporting the retention
9 of the Chief. I do not desire to use my time to
10 repeat that information.
11 The heat of battle tends to bring out
12 the worst in us. In this confrontation, the
13 anti-Chiefs have not hesitated to pervert
14 University functions to their advantage,
15 regardless of the consequences to the University.
16 Except for an accreditation visit last fall by the
17 North Central Association, which was totally
18 perverted by the anti-Chiefs, we would not be here
19 today. We would not be here today.
20 I feel compelled to share with you the
21 facts about that incredulous North Central
22 Association process. Had their report limited
23 itself to the quality of education at this
24 University, which was their charge, this hearing
PAGE 10
1 would not be held. Facts about the NCA visit
2 illustrates how we can be sidetracked in our quest
3 for high quality education by divisive actions of
4 special interest minority groups. There is strong
5 evidence that the NCA visit was focussed and
6 lobbied before and during their visit by the
7 anti-Chief group. They clearly placed their
8 agenda above educational quality at this
9 University.
10 The NCA accreditation group of 12
11 members visited the University for three days in
12 the fall of 1999, with a goal of assessing the
13 quality of our educational programs. Accrediting
14 agencies must follow nationally established
15 criteria, a copy is attached. The criteria
16 requires evaluation of specific educational
17 sectors, curricula, faculty, facilities, support
18 services, et cetera.
19 The anti-Chief group used a criteria
20 clause referred to as third party concerns to
21 flood the visiting team with more than 100 letters
22 of concern. This was obviously a well planned,
23 well directed, focussed effort. The NCA report,
24 in the report it is stated, "No letters in support
PAGE 11
1 of the Chief were received. And no letters on any
2 other topic were received."
3 Hundreds of pro-Chief documents existed,
4 but were not asked for by NCA prior to the visit.
5 Further in the report, they state, "The team
6 agrees that a school mascot per se is not an
7 accreditation issue, but it does feel that
8 educational consequences of the policy, tied to
9 NCA criteria, are within the purview of the
10 accreditation review." This visitation team was
11 so unprofessional as to not recognize they were
12 being lobbied and used by a special interest
13 group. In my opinion, NCA also went beyond the
14 professional and ethical bounds of the criteria.
15 During the visit, the NCA team became so
16 focussed on the Chief issue, that they canceled
17 scheduled meetings designed to review the quality
18 of the UIUC education so that they could spend
19 time instead reviewing the Chief issue.
20 Specifically, they canceled a session
21 with Director Thurston, College of Education,
22 which related to "Information Technology and
23 Instructional Computing." And in another session,
24 with the "Weston Hall Exploration Living/Learning
PAGE 12
1 Community Project" to attend their own impromptu
2 Chief sessions.
3 Further, they also requested
4 cancellation of a meeting with Robert Rich, Chair
5 of our Senate Council. The meeting topic was to
6 be about "Invest in the People, Our Faculty."
7 That was the topic to be discussed with Robert
8 Rich.
9 Professor Rich is our academic faculty
10 leader, selected by his peers, but NCA visitors
11 wanted to spend more time on the Chief issue
12 instead of meeting with him. Only through the
13 insistence of Robert Rich was a meeting held and a
14 single NCA team member attended that session.
15 I view this as an insult and blatant
16 disregard for our Senate and the faculty of this
17 institution. The Chief was more important to the
18 NCA than Information Technology, Instructional
19 Computing, the faculty, or the Senate. That is
20 fact. The NC Accreditation team became so
21 focussed, so intent on investigating a bogus
22 educational quality issue that it in fact
23 endangered the public perception of the quality of
24 education at this University.
PAGE 13
1 I believe the NCA action to be overtly
2 unprofessional, misdirected and that there should
3 be a State of Illinois investigation to insure the
4 other institutions of higher learning in Illinois
5 are not subjected to such unprofessional
6 evaluations, which might involve student dances,
7 cheerleaders, student newspapers. Further, I
8 believe they acted in conflict with the national
9 criteria guidelines.
10 This outrage is caused by the lobbying
11 tactics of the anti-Chief group. Put simply, NCA
12 was used by the anti-Chiefs. The anti-Chiefs
13 previously have called for carte blanche
14 administrative resignations and in this case have
15 not hesitated to interfere with the University
16 accreditation process to advance their personal
17 agendas. That does not illustrate concern for the
18 University.
19 Whether for or against the Chief, the
20 Board of Trustees needs to take a firm stand and
21 not vacillate on this issue. Once that stand is
22 taken, it should not vary, short of state or
23 federal legislation or duly executed court
24 decisions.
PAGE 14
1 I firmly believe the Chief is an
2 honorable symbol that brings respect and honor to
3 the University and to the heritage of the Illinois
4 tribe, which otherwise will soon be forgotten.
5 I and hundreds of others are disturbed
6 by the McCarthy type actions of a small group that
7 infers we are racists and uses tactics that place
8 their personal goals above those of the
9 University. The majority of students and faculty
10 and public interested in this University are in
11 favor of the present stance taken by the Board to
12 maintain the Chief. I urge them to listen to the
13 masses and to continue their present support for
14 the Chief. Thank you.
15 MODERATOR GARIPPO: Debbie Reese.
16 MS. DEBBIE REESE: Good morning, my name
17 is Debbie Reese. I am Pueblo Indian. I would
18 like to introduce you to the fellow native
19 students that are on the campus at this time.
20 This is John McKinn behind me. He is Pima. Also
21 standing with me is Diana Stimpel, she Ojibway. A
22 fourth student, Doug Singleton couldn't be here
23 with us today.
24 I address you today in my role as
PAGE 15
1 president of Red Roots, a registered UIUC student
2 organization whose members are Native American
3 students with strong ties to our tribal nations.
4 Throughout the day, I expect you will hear from
5 individuals who claim they have Native blood from
6 a grandmother or a grandfather. But their lives
7 are such that this Native heritage is not a part
8 of their daily lives. Some will speak in support
9 of the Chief telling you how they feel honored by
10 this symbol.
11 It is important, we believe, that you
12 understand we are simply not another section of
13 the anti-Chief voices that you will hear today.
14 We are Native students who have chosen to attend
15 this University. At present there are four of us
16 who have direct experience with our Native
17 heritage. I, for example, was born at an Indian
18 hospital. I grew up on a reservation in northern
19 New Mexico. The students I represent do not seek
20 our Native identity, it is who we are, based on
21 our daily lives, our lived experiences as members
22 of a tribal nation.
23 As students, we pursue our degrees, we
24 take classes and in the case of the graduate
PAGE 16
1 students, we conduct research and we teach for the
2 University. Since 1988, Native students at the
3 University have formed a student organization that
4 has, without fail, issued position statements
5 opposed to the use of the symbol or mascot known
6 as Chief Illiniwek.
7 At its peak, the student organization
8 has numbered no more than 12 to 15 students with
9 this direct connection to their Native roots.
10 Again, I refer to students with a meaningful tie
11 to their Native heritage. We can tell stories
12 that no one else can. We enrich the conversations
13 on the campus in ways that no one else can,
14 because of a lived experience of contact, daily
15 contact with our roots.
16 Because we can tell these stories, we
17 are often invited to speak to various
18 organizations on campus, invited to speak to
19 various classes on campus and in the community.
20 There's a tremendous need for that kind of
21 information. The community is looking for
22 information they can't get at present at the
23 University because there are no formal programs in
24 existence.
PAGE 17
1 Today, I want to ask that you listen to
2 the Indian voice, the Indian voices in the
3 community of Champaign-Urbana, to the Indian
4 voices that are part of this University. We
5 aren't part of an alliance. We are students. We
6 are educators. We are parents. We are not
7 activists, and we not been agitating solely for
8 the removal of the Chief. As a group of Native
9 students, we have proposed and worked in good
10 faith in the last 12 years, indeed in times in
11 partnership with the University administrators for
12 these three items.
13 One, a Native American studies program
14 that would provide the opportunity for all UIUC
15 students to take course work about American Indian
16 culture.
17 Two, the hiring of an assistant dean in
18 students services whose primary responsibilities
19 would include overseeing the needs of Native
20 American students and the recruitment of
21 additional Native American students.
22 Three, establishment of an Native
23 American cultural house that would serve as a
24 meeting place for Native students, but would also
PAGE 18
1 serve the community through cultural programs and
2 activities that would enhance the educational
3 experience of all students on the UIUC campus.
4 None of our efforts have borne fruit.
5 In 1997, we responded to an invitation from
6 student services administrators to work with them
7 in the drafting of a job description for an
8 assistant dean to serve Native American students.
9 After months of work that culminated in the
10 interviewing of six candidates for that position,
11 we selected a candidate and expected her to be on
12 campus within one month's time. Instead, the
13 position was canceled due to lack of funds.
14 Just prior to that, we were told that we
15 would be given a meeting place on campus. We
16 expected it would be a private office area or a
17 physical location similar to those enjoyed by the
18 other ethnic minorities on campus. However, when
19 we went to the place, it turned out to be two
20 desks pushed together in the lobby of the Student
21 Services Building.
22 As graduate students, we have networks
23 and universities across the country through which
24 we have learned that Native American professors at
PAGE 19
1 major universities would not come here if a
2 position were available, nor do they counsel their
3 students to come here. Each person we have spoken
4 to cites the Chief as the major reason for his or
5 her actions.
6 Clearly, all our efforts have been for
7 naught. We believe this is directly related to
8 the Chief. We believe the, quote, honorable image
9 of the Chief has led to the derogatory treatment
10 of Native students on campus. The attitude that
11 embraces the Chief simultaneously denigrates and
12 marginalizes our very existence on campus.
13 If there were a Native studies program
14 and an assistant dean and a Native house, there
15 would be more Native students here. However, a
16 greater Native presence would also be a greater
17 voice that would, in effect, become a threat to
18 the romanticized notions of what it means to be a
19 Native American, thereby it would be a threat to
20 keeping the Chief.
21 Again, none of our efforts have been
22 successful. We believe a true dialogue on this
23 issue would mean talking to the people who are
24 most directly affected, that means inviting we the
PAGE 20
1 Native students on campus to meet with the Board
2 of Trustees for a conversation, a conversation
3 about the many issues that we confront and deal
4 with as students here.
5 In numerous venues, you have stated your
6 commitment to Native students and your commitment
7 to diversity on campus. Please hear our voice.
8 Hear our request as Native students on campus, we
9 live here, we work here, we study here. Invite us
10 to your table for this conversation. Once again,
11 we are offering our assistance, our help to you,
12 the University. Invite us to talk with you,
13 therein, we believe is the true honoring of the
14 Native students on campus.
15 We urge you to retire the Chief and
16 begin the healing process that needs to be begun,
17 begin it here at home with your students. Thank
18 you.
19 MODERATOR GARIPPO: May I ask you a
20 question, do you regard the, is your argument like
21 two issues, in other words, is the Chief part of
22 only the problem, or is the Chief one issue and
23 all these other --
24 MS. REESE: We believe the Chief is the
PAGE 21
1 major obstacle to achieving the other things that
2 need to be in place.
3 MODERATOR GARIPPO: If everything that
4 you requested were granted, I have no authority to
5 do any of those, but if everything that you
6 requested were to be granted, and the Chief would
7 stay, would that still be a, represent a problem
8 with your organization?
9 MS. REESE: I believe that if the Chief
10 stayed and efforts were made to actually have a
11 Native students program, a Native house, recruit
12 additional students, increase the Native presence
13 on campus, then there would be a greater
14 educational opportunity for everyone on campus to
15 learn what it is to be a Native American. And
16 through that process, people would come to
17 understand why the Chief is a negative,
18 problematic stereotype.
19 And I can point to an example from
20 yesterday. A former, a graduate of the University
21 wrote to me, he was a 1963 graduate, his name is
22 Dan Airand, he is currently in Connecticut. He
23 wrote to ask what was our position on our
24 experience here. I described it to him. He was
PAGE 22
1 outraged, he said if he had known any of the
2 information that I shared about what it is to be a
3 Native student, what it is to be here, he would
4 ask for the removal of the Chief also.
5 MODERATOR GARIPPO: Thank you. Charlene
6 Teters.
7 MS. CHARLENE TETERS: I am Spokane, I am
8 from Washington State. I am also an alum of the
9 University of Illinois. I cannot be semantically
10 divided, a symbol here, a mascot there. I am
11 neither. I am Indian because that is the racial
12 classification adopted by the United States of
13 America. It is what you will call me. But we are
14 not here to pleasure anyone. We are not
15 stereotypes. I am Spokane.
16 At the turn of the century, my
17 grandmother was born February 2, 1900, and given
18 the reservation name Nancy Moses. The end of the
19 19th century saw continued great change to the
20 environment and to the original people of the
21 northwest, where I am from.
22 Treaties were written and broken and
23 within one generation entire villages disappeared.
24 My people were confined to reservations by not
PAGE 23
1 just the United States Army, but also vigilante
2 groups. Starvation was the reality of my
3 grandmother's and grandfather's generation, less
4 than a hundred years ago.
5 Boarding schools that followed in the
6 early 20th century were designed to destroy the
7 family unit and thereby the nations. Our children
8 were gathered up, sometimes by force and taken to
9 boarding schools where many suffered and many of
10 them died. My grandmother had 12 children and
11 only four lived to be adults. And that was not
12 unusual during that time period.
13 The trauma of this time that I am
14 talking about broke our traditional support
15 systems apart. And the religion of my
16 grandparents was made illegal. The regalia, the
17 bundles, the feathers that were part of the way
18 they spoke to the Creator, were gathered up in
19 some cases and burned or sold into collections.
20 This is the same kind of regalia that
21 you have in your mascot. So this is my
22 grandmother's generation. This is also Fools
23 Crow's generation. He was born only days after
24 the massacre at Wounded Knee.
PAGE 24
1 I share this slice of history because
2 the pro-Chief people often will use this name of
3 our spiritual leader in connection to support of
4 the mascot. And Fools Crow himself was a survivor
5 of this very traumatic time period.
6 After generations of violent
7 subordination, policies of genocide, forced
8 removals, starvation, forced assimilation, why
9 does it surprise anyone that some of our people
10 will participate in their own oppression or who
11 will do what they need to do to survive or to buy
12 some peace for future generations, our future
13 generations, as Fools Crow was a peacemaker.
14 So it really disturbs me that you
15 continue to use his name in support of the mascot,
16 because you shame his family, his name, his people
17 when you connect it with a cheerleader, Illiniwek.
18 It's taken generations for Native people
19 to come back from this trauma that they described.
20 My mother with an 8th grade education had six
21 children. And at age 73, she still gets up
22 everyday and goes to a job that many would call
23 basically menial labor. She's a maid. Her hands
24 are among the many brown hands that invisibly
PAGE 25
1 clean the floors and empty the trash across
2 America. At 73 years of age, I consider her job,
3 her work has always been honorable.
4 She had six children and I am the only
5 one that has a college degree. Coming from this
6 background to the University of Illinois was a
7 dream come true for me and for my family and for
8 my people. And it was a dream that very quickly
9 turned into a nightmare after I got here because
10 of the images that permeated this community. I
11 bought this at campustown when I was here. So
12 these are the kinds of things that I faced when I
13 came here.
14 Our universities, our schools owe all of
15 our students, no matter what background they come
16 from, a safe environment without the distractions,
17 without the additional burden of bigotry.
18 University presidents, board of trustee members,
19 must set the tone for that environment of respect.
20 And if not, the message is clear, it need not
21 exist for all people. That safe environment will
22 never exist here as long as you have a race-based
23 mascot. There should be no doubt that race,
24 ethnicity, religion, cultural markings and
PAGE 26
1 national origin are at the core of our objections.
2 Does anyone not recognize this image as
3 supposedly representing Indian people. We are not
4 confused that this is Asian or Jew, even the
5 support the Chief people will say look at our
6 honorable symbol representing Indian people. My
7 family is honorable. This is not.
8 When a stereotype is being put forward
9 by an educational institution, it interferes with
10 the true mission to educate. And it's
11 irreconcilable to use lies to educate. So
12 powerful is this publicly supported stereotype
13 that Natives who come here are not allowed to
14 define themselves. They are predefined by Chief
15 Illiniwek.
16 You have basically a litmus test here,
17 because when they find out we are Indian people,
18 they ask us, what is your position on the Chief?
19 Do you support it or not.
20 The Irish freedom leader Gerry Adams
21 recently wrote, "Colonial culturalism seeks to
22 substitute men and women for mere objects.
23 Objects have no allegiance, they are for sale,"
24 end of quote. This University is engaging in
PAGE 27
1 cultural colonialism.
2 I want to tell you that it's important
3 to remove these things because they are in our way
4 from people seeing us for who we really are. Let
5 us show you and share with you who we are.
6 Over and over again we have been in this
7 place, we have spoken to the Board of Trustees a
8 number of times, and again and again we say the
9 same thing. The same thing that was said to
10 Columbus, the same thing that we said to Andrew
11 Jackson and we are saying it again to you, we are
12 human. We are human beings. We are not mascots
13 or fetishes to be worn by the dominant society.
14 We are human beings.
15 MODERATOR GARIPPO: Thank you. I
16 skipped a speaker, Rick Legue, microphone No. 1.
17 Those who represent groups, if you will identify
18 your group in your speech.
19 MR. RICK LEGUE: Members of the Board of
20 Directors, Board of Trustees, excuse me, fellow
21 alumni, future alumni, ladies and gentlemen, good
22 morning, I am proud to say I saw the sunrise this
23 morning. My name is Rick League, from Barrington,
24 Illinois, class of 1968, I am a proud former Chief
PAGE 28
1 Illiniwek and represent the former Chiefs.
2 First let me state that although I am 54
3 years young and might mistakenly be perceived as
4 an old timer, my days here on campus seem not so
5 long ago. It's just the years that seem to speed
6 by. This is not only my alma mater, it is my
7 birth place, I grew up in Urbana. I have a son I
8 am proud to say who graduated from this
9 University. When I come home to U of I, I truly
10 come home.
11 I am delighted to have this opportunity
12 to speak to you, the Board of Trustees, and do so
13 this morning on behalf of the former Chief
14 Illiniweks who proudly served as Chief while
15 students at the University. Those opposed to the
16 Chief Illiniwek have made their objections heard
17 for some time now and will do so again today in
18 this dialogue.
19 I am here on behalf of the former Chief
20 Illiniweks that have proudly portrayed the Chief
21 to testify that it is not what they claim, it's
22 never been, it has never been intended to be, if
23 it were, I and we would not be voicing our
24 concerns or making this supportive statement.
PAGE 29
1 I am not here to wag or to wave the flag
2 of tradition or of the past. From his first
3 appearance in 1926, by careful design, the Chief
4 was to symbolize the University and its namesake,
5 a proud tribe of Native Americans Indians, from
6 Illinois. The Chief is an artistic, positive,
7 artful symbol whose portrayal has been carefully
8 decided and managed with integrity and with the
9 highest regard and honor for the group of
10 Americans it portrays.
11 The Chief has, with the University of
12 Illinois Alma Mater in which it has been
13 portrayed, has in fact been embraced and supported
14 by, among others, the Illiniwek tribe itself in
15 1995. Also, several Chiefs over the years have
16 been invited to Native American communities to
17 learn more about the culture, to be in touch, to
18 learn their history, and have done so.
19 Great care has been taken to assure that
20 the Chief and its symbol and its symbolic
21 portrayal is dignified, sacred and an honored one.
22 The Chief is truly a symbol.
23 We used to always point out there are
24 nine, now ten, mascots in the Big 10. There is
PAGE 30
1 only one chief. And there is nothing like the
2 Chief Illiniwek in this country. And that's
3 because we have done it right and continue to do
4 so with good guidance and careful leadership.
5 The Chief is not a mascot. Not a
6 Buckeye, not a Badger, running the sidelines,
7 leading cheers, arms waving, not an Irish
8 leprechaun doing the same, no. The Chief in his
9 performance is an honored event, a personification
10 of the spirit of the Illini.
11 When the Three-In-One music began, when
12 I was Chief, I left my personna, I wasn't Legue
13 anymore, I could have been Henry Kissinger or Eddy
14 Murphy himself. That's what it's all about.
15 Portraying a spirit. And a symbol with dignity
16 and honor. My goal was to somehow sneak into the
17 marching band, unseen, so that when I burst onto
18 the field and performed the celebratory dance down
19 the field, I was the spirit of the Illini. A
20 spirit that could be seen and felt.
21 And when I raised my arms, I could
22 believe it, I believed that everyone could feel
23 the presence of that spirit. That bond we all
24 share at this great University, the dance at mid-
PAGE 31
1 field and the Chief, arms folded, proudly marched
2 off, disappearing. I feel that spirit in the room
3 today. A symbol and a spirit present and visible
4 for just those fleeting moments and then gone
5 again, a reminder.
6 And there's the linkage four capsulized
7 years of memories, life long friendships, loyalty,
8 pride in Illinois in its excellence, in its Noble
9 prize winners, distinguished graduates portrayed
10 and relayed through proud Chief, a proud symbol,
11 an honored symbol of the University and its
12 traditions. And when I was Chief, I was also an
13 ambassador of the University, I communicated the
14 history of the Chief, the honored position it
15 held.
16 I spoke at Alumni Association functions,
17 University functions, Boy Scout jamborees,
18 schools, libraries, faculty events, so many to
19 recall. I remember speaking at the invitation of
20 Mr. and Mrs. Krannert at the Indianapolis Alumni
21 Club in 1967. We are certainly grateful for their
22 support and loyalty to this great University.
23 There are hundreds of times the Chief
24 has been such an ambassador. That symbol of the
PAGE 32
1 institution, the symbol of its pride, of its
2 excellence and loyalty.
3 In recent years that has changed
4 somewhat. However, the Chief is very restricted,
5 no speaking engagements, silenced. Rarely is the
6 Chief's logo displayed on University literature or
7 athletic uniforms. And the University has done so
8 in recent years I am sure with the intention of
9 more clearly defining the appropriate role and
10 reduce the debate.
11 Unfortunately, it has served to confuse
12 the public. More importantly, confuse the
13 students of the past ten years and those students
14 on campus today. Isn't the Chief, isn't the Chief
15 Illiniwek still a symbol of the University of
16 Illinois? Yes. It still is. Didn't this Board
17 of Trustees just a few years ago vote in support
18 in retention of the Chief? Yes. So why are we
19 sending mixed messages? Why is the administration
20 low keying the Chief?
21 A recent Sun Times poll showed 86
22 percent of those polled support the Chief. And
23 there are hundreds of thousands of people from
24 this great University that agree that the Chief is
PAGE 33
1 a great symbol and vital asset to this University.
2 A symbol that has served the institution well and
3 can continue to do so. Supporters of the
4 University of Illinois want to retain the Chief.
5 We urge this board to make it clear, I
6 hope the Alumni Association will do so too. The
7 Chief Illiniwek is still a beloved and honored
8 symbol of the University, not a stereotype and
9 needs the support and wholehearted commitment of
10 the Board. We surely want the Chief to be the
11 best.
12