"Kenneth and James Heinzel," 2/17/2007

To the Trustees of the U of I.

Your decision to discontinue the support and eliminate the U of I mascot, Chief Illiniwek was ill advised and quite unfortunate for the future development of the university.

It is incredible to me that despite the overwhelming support for the Chief by alumni you have decided to cave-in to a very small group of discontented people who clearly don't recognize a noble symbol when they see one. The great Seminole tribe of Florida supports the use of a noble and complementary native American mascot. They actually think that such a mascot helps perpetuate a favorable memory of their tribe.

Why don't you?

You have no idea how strong the backlash of Illinois Alums will be. This is not surprising to me since your judgment is so poor.

I don't expect a reply to this e-mail since you are so out of touch with University stakeholders. Some student aid will probably be given the responsibility for counting the thousands of negative letters and e- mails you will receive.

Just know that when you see the disastrously negative impact that this decision will have on fund raising in the immediate future, that you were personally responsible for injuring the University and the students who will suffer from lack of funding in various programs.

Shame be on you!

Please honor us all by resigning.

Kenneth A. Heinzel
Class of '65

James T. Heinzel
Class of '71

"Kenneth and James Heinzel," via the web.