Chief complaint
Student chiefs sue University of Illinois to block school from dumping mascot
The lawsuit, filed in Champaign County Circuit Court, seeks to stop the university administration from making a public announcement to that effect by seeking a temporary restraining order. A court hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m.
The suit, filed by two students who now portray the chief, claims that getting rid of the mascot would violate the students' constitutional rights of freedom of expression and speech. It also claims that ending the 80-year-old tradition would violate the academic freedom of the students, Dan Maloney of Galesburg and Logan Ponce of St. Charles.
Listed as defendants in the suit are the U. of I. board of trustees and the NCAA, which ruled last year that the chief was "hostile and abusive'' and barred the school from hosting postseason sports tournaments as long as the chief remained an official representative.
The suit offered no support for its contention that the announcement would come today. Neither student could be reached for comment, and their lawyer did not return repeated phone calls.
But the Sun-Times, citing university sources, reported last August that the chief's last performance would likely come at the end of the basketball season. And a separate university source said Thursday that the school's board of trustees had recently discussed getting rid of the chief before the end of the hoops season.
University spokesman Tom Hardy would not give a date for an announcement on the chief's future.
"The NCAA has not mandated that any institution change its mascot, name or image,'' said Williams. But the group can dictate who participates in its tournaments, he said.
The suit does not seek monetary damages, just a ban on action against the chief. It maintains that, if the university complies with the "coercive demands" of the NCAA, this would cause "serious, immediate and irreparable harm and impact" to Maloney and Ponce.
The suit also states that the NCAA is interfering with the students' academic freedom, since both receive college credit for portraying Chief Illiniwek. Eliminating the chief could cause the students to lose scholarships they receive, according to the suit.