Note: The Chief controversy, and issues of diversity, date back many years. Dr. Estabrook wrote the following Opinions Forum article after chairing the first committee to recommend retiring Chief Illiniwek.

Shortly after completing the first draft of the report On Building a More Inclusive Community, I was asked, "What have you learned?" I have learned how much pain our students feel because of the prejudice they encounter. Our committee could not ignore that pain as we shaped our recommendations to this campus, including the recommendations to retire Chief Illiniwek.

Building a more inclusive UIUC community will take much, much more than retiring Chief Illiniwek, for the Native American Indian community is not the only one feeling the pains of exclusion. A young Jewish woman told of her experiences of anti-Semitism. Asian American students report their struggles to have their special needs recognized, feeling that they are penalized for academic success. A white student spoke of her resentment that minority students receive special treatment. An African American student talks of the resentment that people falsely assume he comes from a poor background and had weak standardized test scores. At campus meetings on cultural centers, students who seek to build a more integrated community beg people representing different racial and ethnic minority groups to explain why members of these groups want a place "of their own."
continues - click for entire article

See also the 1998 U. Illinois Senate Resolution to Retire Chief Illiniwek, which discusses the above Committee.

Dr. Estabrook is a Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois.

U.I.: "the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is committed to excellence, and its emphasis on diversity is a vital part of that commitment."

… and this: "For the University to ensure its tradition of academic excellence it must continue to attract and retain the very best students, faculty and staff - and the best individuals are as diverse as the world in which we live."

U.S. Gov't: "Workforce diversity has evolved from sound public policy to a strategic business imperative."

Penn. State: "We must continue to foster a humane University community in which everyone feels welcome, by eliminating disrespect and harrassment."

North Central Association's Higher Learning Commission, in their new Statement on Diversity: "people in an environment that encourages inclusiveness and discourages acts of insensitivity and disrespect can become more enlightened ... the Commission does expect its member organizations to evidence positive responses to issues of diversity and to show the relationship of those responses to the integrity of their operations."

DIVERSITY is being embraced all over the U.S., in many different arenas. It is good for business, good for government & education, and is the right thing to do.

Well intended or not, the Chief is an act of insensitivity and disrespect. Native Americans are not honored; many are greatly offended. The Chief is a stereotype, a mockery of their religion, and has no place at an institution of higher learning. The Chief is also a poor representative for the UofI. Isn't it time to retire the Chief? •

Click here to see the entire (expanded) essay.