For U of I students especially, the issue of racist mascots continues. You can call or write to the Board of Trustees to demonstrate your support.
Multicultural Coalition of Students, Faculty, Alum Hold Anti-"Chief" Sit-In at Swanlund Administration Building YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP IS REQUESTED! Dear friends, This morning, a multicultural coalition 40 University of Illinois students, faculty, alumni, community members, and Native peoples have occupied Swanlund Administration Building on the Urbana-Champaign campus of University of Illinois in protest of the continued use of "Chief Illiniwek" and the U of I Board of Trustees' disregard for democracy. We need your help and support! Today, April 15th, 2004, is the day the Board of Trustees was supposed to hold a Board meeting on the Chicago campus, yet the Board cancelled this meeting to avoid addressing a resolution seeking to eliminate "Chief Illiniwek." Perhaps they thought that if there were no meeting, there would be no controversy - nothing could be further from the truth! In an attempt to ignore the concerns of Native peoples and avoid charges of racism from communities of color, the Board has put the University's mission, future, and democratic ideals in jeopardy, and eroded the trust of the students, staff, faculty, and alumni of this institution. This is unacceptable. The Board has sought to ignore and trivialize this issue for over 15 years, but today they can ignore it no longer. Chairman Eppley, in canceling today's meeting, was reported to have said that, "there wasn't sufficient new business to warrant a new board meeting (in April)." Perhaps the current occupation of their main administrative building will give the Board "sufficient new business" to call a meeting and address this issue. After 15 years, we have exhausted every other available means of educating the Board about what the rest of the world already knows: that "Chief Illiniwek" is racist, offensive, and must be eliminated now to make this University welcoming to students and communities of color. But the Board has not listened, and we regret that their actions and inactions have made this occupation both necessary and inevitable. We are asking that the Board take immediate action to demonstrate their commitment to eradicating racial stereotyping and making UIUC more inclusive of students and faculty of color by: 1. Immediately eliminating "Chief Illiniwek" (the dance, logo, and name) as the symbol of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2. Issuing a formal apology to the local, state, and national Native American communities and communities of color for the hurt and harassment that this mascot and surrounding controversy have caused. 3. Increasing stable and permanent funding for the Native American, Latino/a, African American, and Asian American, and other minority studies programs and cultural houses on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1. Forward this email to everyone you know and post it on listservs to which you are subscribed! 2. Contact Trustee Eppley at (312) 372-1121 and tell him "I support the occupation and urge the Board to end the controversy and eliminate the "Chief" today!" You can also leave a message for the Board at their office at (217) 333-1920 or at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please copy all emails to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3. Come to Swanlund Administration Building (601 E. John St, on corner of 6th & Wright) now to show your support for the occupation! We will be picketing and rallying all day outside of Swanlund. If you'd like to lend additional support, we desperately need money for food, supplies, other essentials for the occupation, and (potentially) bail money if arrests occur. Checks can be made out to "PRC" with "occupation" in the memo. *** And please note that the rally originally scheduled for today at 12 noon at the Alma Mater has been moved to Swanlund Administration Building to support the occupation. The time is now and the "Chief" must be eliminated, but we need your help to make this happen! Please take the actions above to support the occupation. Writing from inside Swanlund Administration Building, Multi-Cultural Coalition Against "Chief Illiniwek" & the PRC -- _______________________________________________ prc-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://mail.prairienet.org/mailman/listinfo/prc-l ------------------------------------------------ visit http://www.geocities.com/sapacchicago email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe sapac" in msg body to unsubscribe
