The Chief adversely affects the recruitment of Native Americans into our department and our university Our faculty member whose teaching and research directly involves contemporary Native peoples reports that the Chief Illiniwek symbol is well known in many Native American communities across the country. For example, at a Native American college recruitment event last year, several young Native persons who were well qualified as potential UIUC students expressed their reluctance to consider applying to UIUC . These potential students reasoned, quite correctly, that an institution cannot use a symbol such as Chief Illiniwek as its sports mascot and at the same time sincerely support a policy of ethnic inclusivity and cultural diversity. As a result of the Chief, such talented individuals have been recruited elsewhere. However, we also believe that our alumni can recognize the significance of social and cultural change and that traditions in and of themselves are not always honorable when times and moral sensibilities change.
Symbols are powerful icons that convey complex messages with lasting impact.
It is therefore important to choose symbols with full understanding of the many meanings they may hold. Prior to the civil rights era of the 1960s the use of cultural symbols that harmfully stereotyped ethnic minorities was perceived as unproblematic by people sharing mainstream culture. Our nation's commitment to civil rights during the 1960s revealed the fundamental constitutional flaws of this view. Today, we believe that to acknowledge, understand and celebrate cultural diversity is not a threat to a unified nation. It is instead the very means by which a vibrant, creative, multi-ethnic society can develop with pride and confidence in the 21st century.