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Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative (PRC) spokesperson Brooke Anderson says "Too little, too late" to recent Board of Trustees (BOT) resolution regarding "Chief Illiniwek."

With prompting from the North Central Association (NCA), on January 13, 2000 the University of Illinois Board of the Trustees (BOT) passed a resolution formally acknowledging "the ongoing controversy arising from Chief Illiniwek as the symbol of the UIUC intercollegiate athletic teams," as well as resolving "to ensure that processes are in place, which are designed to address the differences within the University community regarding the use of the chief as a symbol and its alleged negative impact." The PRC - a long-time source of anti-"Chief" organizing - responded today that this most recent BOT statement, while testament to the successes of the anti-"Chief" movement, is still too little, too late.

Anderson, a senior in LAS at UIUC who spoke before the North Central Assocation (NCA) accreditation site visit team last fall regarding the "Chief," had the following to say regarding the BOT's recent statement:

By re-asserting our commitment to the "Chief"s removal and calling upon the Board to move beyond dialogue to fundamental change, we declare this recent development in the ongoing controversy not as an opportunity for people of conscience (Native and non-Native alike) to relax, but as a time for heightened pressure on the Board to act according to the dictates of justice and of their own purported mission of creating a 'diverse educational community.'

The PRC has been involved in the struggle to remove "Chief Illiniwek" as the University's mascot and symbol since the inception of the anti-"Chief" movement in 1989. The PRC was present in 1990 when the BOT passed a resolution to maintain "Chief Illiniwek" as the University's official symbol, and went on to organize a host of educational events and direct actions in the intervening decade to agitate for the "Chief"s removal. Throughout the course of this organizing, our voices were repeatedly ignored by the BOT and the University Administration. As a long-standing voice of opposition to the "Chief," we hold that the Board's recent resolution is not only long overdue, but also insufficient to affect the kind of social change necessary to bring the University's policies in line with their stated mission of multicultural education and inclusiveness.

Given that the Board of Trustees has for more than a decade consistently refused to engage in honest dialogue with either local "Chief" opponents or the plethora of national Native organizations requesting the "Chief"s removal, we believe it is not enough that the Board of Trustees now merely "reaffirms its commitment to a civil process of debate." Rather, we hold that the Board is morally and politically obligated to move beyond mere dialogue toward quick and decisive action.

Specifically, the PRC hereby re-issues its demands for: (1) immediate and unconditional elimination of "Chief Illiniwek" as the mascot and symbol of the University of Illinois; (2) the establishment of a Native American cultural house and studies program; and (3) increased recruitment and retention of Native students, staff, and faculty.