[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [prc-l] ANTI-"CHIEF" SIT-IN IN PROGRESS AT SWANLUND!

[Brooke Anderson]

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>Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 07:40:53 -0500 (CDT)
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>Subject: [prc-l] ANTI-"CHIEF" SIT-IN IN PROGRESS AT SWANLUND!
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>Multicultural Coalition of Students, Faculty, Alum Hold Anti-"Chief"
>Sit-In at Swanlund Administration Building
>
>YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP IS REQUESTED!
>
>Dear friends,
>
>This morning, a multicultural coalition 40 University of Illinois
>students, faculty, alumni, community members, and Native peoples have
>occupied Swanlund Administration Building on the Urbana-Champaign  campus
>of University of Illinois in protest of the continued use of  "Chief
>Illiniwek" and the U of I Board of Trustees' disregard for  democracy. We
>need your help and support!
>
>Today, April 15th, 2004, is the day the Board of Trustees was
>supposed to hold a Board meeting on the Chicago campus, yet the Board
>cancelled this meeting to avoid addressing a resolution seeking to
>eliminate "Chief Illiniwek." Perhaps they thought that if there were  no
>meeting, there would be no controversy - nothing could be further  from
>the truth! In an attempt to ignore the concerns of Native
>peoples and avoid charges of racism from communities of color, the  Board
>has put the University's mission, future, and democratic ideals  in
>jeopardy, and eroded the trust of the students, staff, faculty,  and
>alumni of this institution. This is unacceptable.
>
>The Board has sought to ignore and trivialize this issue for over 15
>years, but today they can ignore it no longer. Chairman Eppley, in
>canceling today's meeting, was reported to have said that, "there  wasn't
>sufficient new business to warrant a new board meeting (in  April)."
>Perhaps the current occupation of their main administrative  building will
>give the Board "sufficient new business" to call a
>meeting and address this issue.
>
>After 15 years, we have exhausted every other available means of
>educating the Board about what the rest of the world already knows:  that
>"Chief Illiniwek" is racist, offensive, and must be eliminated  now to
>make this University welcoming to students and communities of  color. But
>the Board has not listened, and we regret that their
>actions and inactions have made this occupation both necessary and
>inevitable.
>
>We are asking that the Board take immediate action to demonstrate  their
>commitment to eradicating racial stereotyping and making UIUC  more
>inclusive of students and faculty of color by:
>
>1. Immediately eliminating "Chief Illiniwek" (the dance, logo, and  name)
>as the symbol of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
>
>2. Issuing a formal apology to the local, state, and national Native
>American communities and communities of color for the hurt and
>harassment that this mascot and surrounding controversy have caused.
>
>3. Increasing stable and permanent funding for the Native American,
>Latino/a, African American, and Asian American, and other minority
>studies programs and cultural houses on the University of Illinois at
>Urbana-Champaign campus.
>
>HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:
>
>1. Forward this email to everyone you know and post it on listservs  to
>which you are subscribed!
>
>2. Contact Trustee Eppley at (312) 372-1121 and tell him "I support  the
>occupation and urge the Board to end the controversy and
>eliminate the "Chief" today!" You can also leave a message for the  Board
>at their office at (217) 333-1920 or at mthompsn at uillinois.edu.  Please
>copy all emails to prc at prairienet.org.
>
>3. Come to Swanlund Administration Building (601 E. John St, on
>corner of 6th & Wright) now to show your support for the occupation!  We
>will be picketing and rallying all day outside of Swanlund. If  you'd like
>to lend additional support, we desperately need money for  food, supplies,
>other essentials for the occupation, and
>(potentially) bail money if arrests occur. Checks can be made out to
>"PRC" with "occupation" in the memo.
>
>*** And please note that the rally originally scheduled for today at  12
>noon at the Alma Mater has been moved to Swanlund Administration  Building
>to support the occupation. The time is now and the "Chief"  must be
>eliminated, but we need your help to make this happen! Please  take the
>actions above to support the occupation.
>
>Writing from inside Swanlund Administration Building,
>Multi-Cultural Coalition Against "Chief Illiniwek" & the PRC
>
>--
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-- 
**************************************
Brooke Anderson
Champaign County Health Care Consumers
44 E. Main St., Suite 208
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone = (217) 352-6533, x 17
Fax = (217) 352-9745
Email = brooke at shout.net
**************************************