Students for Chief Illiniwek
From U of I Wiki
Students for Chief Illiniwek (SFCI[1]) is a progressive registered student organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was founded in 1998 to promote the University's official symbol, Chief Illiniwek. SFCI currently has 600 members at the Champaign Campus, but had several thousand members in its early years.
[edit] Activities
SFCI has been responsible for many activities in recent years, including the Assembly Hall Blackout during Chief Illiniwek's last dance. Students peeled off their orange shirts at the February 20th, 2007 Basketball game against Michigan where Chief Illiniwek would perform for the final time to reveal black t-shirts that the group had handed out prior to the game. The group repeated the event for the one year anniversary of the Chief's demise on February 19th, 2008. SFCI distributed 900 black tee shirts with the Chief Illiniwek logo on the front of them to fans in Orange Krush. Additionally, SFCI was responsible for the 2007 homecoming fiasco with Chancellor Richard Herman. The Chancellor's committee to support homecoming established a policy that would call for students participating in the parade to not display any references to Chief Illiniwek. This policy included the personal attire of parade participants. Controversy struck the Chancellor's office when officers of Students for Chief consulted attorneys, law professors, and the local media. Emails were sent to University administrators stating that SFCI intended to express their constitutional right to free expression in the parade by donning their Chief gear. After letters from the local chapter of the ACLU, vocal public discontent on Jim Turpin's "Penny for Your Thoughts," and an editorial from the News-Gazette the policy was reversed by the Chancellor. Addtionally, a letter signed by 18 members of the Illinois General Assembly was sent to University President B. Joseph White, expressing disappointment that the University would attempt to inhibit free speech on campus.
[edit] Still Supporting their Chief
In the Spring semester of 2008, Students for Chief Illiniwek worked with the Council of Chiefs and the Honor the Chief Society to host try-outs for the role of Chief Illiniwek. Students for Chief Illiniwek also sponsored a student referendum question asking the student body whether or not they supported the reinstatement of Chief Illiniwek as the official symbol of the University of Illinois. Students voted nearly 8 in 10 to bring Chief Illiniwek back, with 7,718 students responding "Yes" to the question and 2052 voting "No." With 10,367 students voting in the election, it was the Second-highest voter turnout in the history of the online election ballot at the University. Additionally, Pro-Chief activist and former president of SFCI, Paul Schmitt, was elected to the University's Board of Trustees. He received 4,242 votes. Students for Chief Illiniwek mailed out campaign literature to every University dormitory, Fraternity and Sorority on campus, asking students to vote "Yes" on reinstating Chief Illiniwek.
