Here’s the official news from the University of Illinois, which should surprise no one:
The University of Illinois today announced that Chief Illiniwek will no longer perform at athletic events on the Urbana-Champaign campus after this season’sd last men’s home basketball game in Assembly Hall on February 21.
As a consequence, the University will immediately become eligible to host post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship events.
Head to this page fulla PDFs for more yawn-inducing text on the the subject. Because everybody needs more PDFs.
Will the Chief Illiniwek tradition be replaced? If so, with what?
A The campus administration will take up whether and how to go about establishing a new tradition, but a process and timetable for doing so have not been set. Any new symbol will not use American Indian imagery.
Update: Or you could just head over to the Chicago Tribune story, I guess. U. of I. ending Chief Illiniwek’s run
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