As Illinois tries to move on from Chief Illiniwek, the belted kingfisher is gaining highly visible support as potential mascot for university

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign alum Susan Zhou wears an Illinois kingfisher sweatshirt in Chicago on Dec. 8, 2022.

“I’d say it’s been going very strong,” said 2020 graduate Susan Zhou, who is helping to lead the charge among alumni. “We do a lot of drives to get kingfisher gear into hands. They become ambassadors for the brand. They believe they can be part of this new movement while they’re not on campus.”Yet for all the increasing visibility, the kingfisher still appears far away from official recognition by the university, which continues to grapple with how to move on from the exiled Chief Illiniwek.

Despite the glacial, only-in-academia process, support continues to grow elsewhere. The National Congress of American Indians last week endorsed the effort to create a new mascot, suggesting in a“When harmful Native ‘themed’ mascots are retired but not replaced, harmful imagery persists as the community fails to come together around a new identity that is truly representative of them,” wrote Executive Director Larry Wright Jr.

NoChiefNoCheck

Bring back the chief.

Sweet Jesus

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As U. of I. tries to move on after exiling Chief Illiniwek, the belted kingfisher is gaining highly visible support as potential mascotYet for all the increasing visibility, the bird still appears far away from official recognition by the university. CHIEF! 😂🤣😂🤣!!!! The belted kingfisher has orange and blue feathers and can be found in every county of Illinois. Make it the mascot. The chief has been gone for more than a decade. It's high time to put this issue to bed and move on to more important topics.
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