The Chief
Swanlund standoff ends
By Jamie Loo and Jeremy Pelzer | Staff writers
Published Monday, April 19, 2004
Anti-Chief protesters claimed victory Friday afternoon as they ended a 33-hour sit-in after reaching an agreement with the University administration.
More than 40 protesters — including students, faculty, alumni, Native leaders and community members — occupied Swanlund Administration Building beginning at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, demanding the Board of Trustees immediately eliminate Chief Illiniwek as the University mascot.
In exchange for the protesters leaving Swanlund, the University agreed not to take disciplinary action against the sit-in participants and scheduled meetings for anti-Chief representatives to meet with state legislators and the University's accreditation agency, said Chancellor Nancy Cantor at a news conference on Friday.
Under the agreement, anti-Chief activists will meet with the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus and state Senate President Emil Jones on April 27 in Springfield, Ill. The University also agreed to allow eight to 10 anti-Chief representatives to meet with a three-member team from the North Central Association Higher Learning Commission, the University's accreditation agency, when the team visits campus during a previously scheduled meeting from April 26-27, Cantor said. Accreditation provides public certification of an institution's quality and is required for a university to receive federal funding.
Following the news conference, the protesters left the building at 4:30 p.m. and held a short rally.
Brooke Anderson, a negotiator for the protesters, said a third reason the protesters chose to end the sit-in was because board member Frances Carroll agreed to place an anti-Chief resolution on the agenda for the board's June 15 meeting in Chicago. Student trustee Nate Allen had already planned to introduce Carroll's resolution at the meeting, but Anderson said Chief opponents "didn't have public assurance" that an anti-Chief resolution would be brought up.
The protesters initially demanded to speak with board members — particularly with board chairman Lawrence Eppley. However, when board members refused to talk with the protesters, the sit-in participants agreed to negotiate with Cantor.
"Given the board's refusal to communicate, knowing that they would eventually take action to clear this building and not wanting our participants to potentially face arrest at the hands of an unresponsive board, we made the decision to negotiate with Chancellor Nancy Cantor about the terms under which we would leave the building," Anderson said during the news conference.
Sit-in participants hailed Friday's agreement as a significant victory for Chief opponents and defended their actions.
Jen Tayabaji, executive director of the Illinois Disciples Foundation, said the sit-in was necessary because Chief opponents had exhausted all other options after trying for 15 years to get the board to act on the issue.
"We had to engage in a moral and a physical struggle here in Swanlund to press the board to address the issue of Chief Illiniwek," Tayabaji said during the rally.
Marcia Fuentes, a sit-in participant, echoed Tayabaji's statement that this was the first step in the elimination of the mascot.
"This is the beginning of the end of overt racism and cultural insensitivity present on this campus, and perpetuated by those in power," Fuentes said.
Anderson agreed, saying, "We have never before felt so close to the elimination of Chief Illiniwek."
The University's agreement brought immediate condemnation from Chief Illiniwek supporters.
"The outrageous concessions that were given to the PRC (Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative) and other anti-Chief groups because of their illegal and disruptive tactics are not only a grave discredit to the University of Illinois, but also the laws and rules that govern our society," said Nick Klitzing, president of Students for Chief Illiniwek, at a news conference Friday.
Klitzing called for legal action against the sit-in participants for the "total financial burden caused by the illegal action of the sit-in." The group asked for Cantor to annul the agreement and give them "equal access" to be heard by arranging a meeting between pro-Chief representatives and Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
"I promise you that Students for Chief Illiniwek will do whatever it takes legally and within our rights to be heard," Klitzing said.
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