Almost two years after the University prohibited the wholesale distribution of Chief Illiniwek merchandise, some students are taking further steps to remove the Chief’s image from campus.

Student volunteers set up a table on the north side of the Quad Tuesday to ask fellow students to exchange their old Chief merchandise for a new T-shirt that read, “Support University Athletics, Not the Chief.”

“We want to show students you can support the teams, but you don’t necessarily have to support the mascot,” said Angie Naquayouma, Native American House program coordinator, who helped the students organize the event. “And I feel like some students maybe think that they’re intertwined and can’t necessarily separate that.”

The event, taking place every day this week from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., was initiated by students from various cultural centers on campus, Naquayouma said. Students from the cultural centers as well as representatives from the LGBT Resource Center and the Women’s Resources Center were among those that volunteered to stand at the table.

People can exchange any merchandise that displays the Chief symbol or word at the table or at any of the cultural centers on campus, Naquayouma said

After the T-shirts are collected, they will be turned into an activist art piece created by the students, she said. Though they have not decided exactly what they will create, she said it could be anything from a teddy bear to a purse.

“It’s still a work in progress for sure,” Naquayouma said. “The last thing we want to do is donate the shirts to Goodwill and have them recycled and come back to us.”

Volunteers had to compete with the loud noise of adjacent tables of student groups who sold doughnuts and pumpkins in order to bring people to their table. Some wouldn’t come to the T-shirt exchange because they did not agree with it.

“I think that it’s underhanded,” said J. Poulos , sophomore in DGS. “I think they should be worried about other things, like the school going bankrupt, than the remnants of a mascot that’s offensive to some people.”

But others involved in the event said it was meant to bring the campus community together.

Belinda De La Rosa, interim director of the Native American House, also helped students organize the event. She said the exchange promotes racial healing that will help the University become more inclusive.

“The intent is totally peaceful and educational,” she said. “It is being done in the spirit of reconciliation.”

Samantha McCue, sophomore in Aviation, said she was not going to exchange any of her Chief apparel. She said she never saw the Chief dance, but said she thinks the Chief, as a symbol, is still important to many University students.

“They (the students) still do everything like the Chief was there,” McCue said, referring to the halftime ceremonies at football and basketball games. “They still want to remember it, want to honor it. Now we just can’t.”

However, Elia Ayala, sophomore in Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, said she does not think tradition justifies the symbol.

“I feel like people really need to understand that it’s an offensive symbol,” Ayala said. “It really is hurtful to some people.