The University of Illinois campus senate is backing a Native American tribe's stance that the school's longtime Chief Illiniwek mascot is a degrading racial stereotype.
The Academic Senate approved a resolution in a near-unanimous vote Monday supporting the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma's statement against any use of the chief as a symbol or mascot.
University officials dropped the portrayal in 2007, but professor Jay Rosenstein tells The News-Gazette that the tribe's statement calling it a harmful stereotype is important.
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Resolution sponsors said the Peoria tribe is the only one recognized by the federal government that includes descendants of the Illinois Indians who once lived in the Urbana-Champaign area.
A recent university report suggested adopting a new sports mascot. Chancellor Robert Jones told the senate that Chief Illiniwek won't return.
