Free Republic

The Illinois-Northwestern game is over and it ended in another Illini defeat. Chief Illiniwek's last gridiron dance may have taken place yesterday. The "braintrust" at the NCAA has ruled that the Fighting Illini nickname is okay for the University of Illinois to use--but the Indianhead logo and the Chief Illiniwek mascot have to go. As with every Big 10 football game yesterday--Ohio State-Michigan being the exception--the game was played for a trophy. The winner of the annual Illinois-Northwestern game gets to take home the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk trophy, which is pictured below, next to the Chief. (But keep that quiet,...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) The agency that certifies the University of Illinois plans to send a team to Urbana-Champaign later this month to examine how the school is dealing with the divided opinions surrounding its Chief Illiniwek athletic symbol. The visit by the North Central Association Higher Learning Commission is a follow-up to its 1999 accreditation review of the university. That review found that UI easily met accreditation standards, but the commission was concerned about the school's response to the Illiniwek controversy. Chief Illiniwek has divided the campus for years. Supporters argue the mascot, a student who dresses in buckskins and...