Today the DI will print my column advocating that people write-in “Chief Illiniwek” for student trustee. It is not a joke, it is not a ruse. Those who care about the Chief and want to do something about his demise have a very real choice: they can vote for someone who will futilely attempt to restart the debate and call for a vote by the full Board, or they can realize the unlikelihood of that action and vote for the Chief himself.

If elected, the Chief will send a clear statement to the college sports nation that U of I students love their mascot. It will highlight the improprieties of the Board’s process and might force a second vote. More importantly, it will loudly declare that anyone attempting to deep-six the “Fighting Illini” ain’t seen nothin’ yet. They may have taken the Chief from us, and they may keep him from us, but if anyone tries to declare the Fighting Illinois racist or demeaning, there will be a battle.

Personally, the Chief is not my cup of tea. I don’t care about him either way, but I think it is a corruption of democracy for three people to make a binding, consequential decision of this magnitude without even a majority of the voting body present! When Congress attempts such underhanded tactics as this the other party screams foul. Here, however, those who support the Chief, or those who at least do not oppose him, on the board are afraid to make their dissatisfaction with the process known, lest they receive the label of “Pro-Chief.”

Today the battle to save the Chief takes a new approach. The U of I campus can either roll over and play dead, or it can draw on its political mettle and shout to all the Illini past, present, and future: you cannot ignore us and you cannot beat us by cheating. Vote for Chief Illiniwek and make the voice of campus heard!