The following transcript is from the 4/14/00 Chief Illiniwek dialogue "intake session". It is an unedited excerpt from the original U.I. document.

I am here to, in the time allowed, to make four points. And I think what Jay said earlier is very important. This is the time for candor and a time for honesty. No. 1, Native Americans find the University's insistence on maintaining its mascot or symbol in the face of their protests humiliating. American Indian students, educators and community leaders have made their feelings clear. The University has responded with assurances of good intentions. Native Americans have watched white people justify their actions for five centuries. The history of those five centuries teaches us that good intentions do not excuse hurtful behavior, whether it be in a government boarding school or in modern athletic entertainment.

The obstinacy of the University in the face of protests has a corrosive effect on the few Native American students who chose to remain here. During each of the last two semesters, I have had students come to me in private to request that I not disclose their American Native heritage to the class. They do not want to hear lectures from white people about their good intentions, and they do not want to receive the hate mail that ensues when they speak up. Great universities respect all their students. Great universities provide an environment where people can be themselves. This University does not.

The context surrounding Chief Illiniwek's performance, my second point, has changed dramatically over the last 75 years. Seventy-five years ago there were 300,000 American Indian in the United States. Seventy-five years ago white performers appeared in black face. Congress had banned immigration into this country from China, Japan and most of the countries of southern and eastern Europe.

The 2000 census will report more than two million American Indians live in the United States as citizens. Tens of thousands of them in this state of Illinois, paying taxes. Racial discrimination and segregation are now prohibited. Immigrants now come to this country and to this University from every corner of the globe. We no longer celebrate white supremacy in public rituals. We no longer speak of Native Americans as a noble people of the past. We have come to see ethnic and racial diversity as the glory of our democracy. Great universities embrace adversity and build healthy, multicultural communities. This University does not.

No. 3, scholars in American Indian studies universally condemn Chief Illiniwek. Last week I chaired a meeting of a new organization, an American Indian studies consortium made up of faculty members who teach in this field at all 11 of the Big 10 Universities and University of Chicago. At that meeting, 25 faculty representatives who appeared at this conference, we passed a resolution unanimously calling for the immediate retirement of Chief Illiniwek.

A few weeks earlier I noticed on a list- serve sponsored by the Michigan State University reaching more than 800 researchers requesting comment on Chief Illiniwek elicited dozens of responses, all of them negative. All calling for the retirement of the Chief. I have copies of them here to give you.

My final point. The Board of Trustees' response to the North Central Association report released earlier this year demonstrates a lack of commitment to equity and diversity. North Central has asked the University, the NCA has challenged the Board of Trustees to act on its stated principles.

Further resistance to change will only continue the negative effects of this controversy. Student alienation, faculty anger and minority staff and student disgust will surely grow. Efforts to retire the Chief will continue. Some day those efforts will be successful. Where will the Board of Trustees be on that day? Great universities live up to their principles. Great universities act with confidence and courage rather than fear. This University so far has not.

See the U.I. Dialogue on Chief Illiniwek page for more transcripts and information.