Farewell Chief Illiniwek...Good Riddance

The Chief: Historically inaccurate and a degrading caricature.

Thank goodness the chief is gone from UIUC. But of course that is just the beginning of the healing. Having lived through a similar wrenching debate at Dartmouth, I am thankful for this at Illinois. But why did it take so long?

This article in Inside Higher Ed gives some of the background and discusses the length of the debate.

Here's a snippet:

The backlash against critics of the chief has been “very real” and has frequently reached the point of harassment, Spindel said, noting the recent furor over Facebook entries involving university students. One Facebook group that attracted over 110 members is titled “If They Get Rid of the Chief I’m Becoming a Racist.” One of its postings reads, “[W]hat they don’t realize is that there was never a racist problem before ... but now I hate redskins and hope all those drunk casino owning bums die.”