Brian Glickman, senior in Business, has started a petition that calls for Professor Stephen Kaufman and others to send retraction letters to athletic recruits they contacted. These letters Kaufman sent to recruits asks them to reconsider coming to the University because of the use of the Chief as a “racist mascot.”

Glickman’s petition, available online at thepetitionsite.com, also calls for the resignation of Kaufman and history professor David Roediger, who asked to be added to the list along with Kaufman.

“Their issue is that they want to get rid of the Chief,” Glickman said.

But Kaufman’s anti-Chief view wasn’t the reason Glickman said he started the petition, which he said has been signed by anti-Chief supporters. Instead, he started the petition because of the potential harm Kaufman’s tactics could bring to University athletics and revenue. Glickman said that people who oppose the Chief have two outs: Bring the issue to the Board of Trustees or to the NCAA. Chief opponents have done both, he said, and the Chief lives on.

“So they’ve turned to this drastic measure, which has no effect on Chief Illiniwek,” Glickman said. “But (Kaufman’s letters) could have an effect on potential athletic revenue.”

The idea for the petition came from Glickman’s roommate, Steven Lefkoff, senior in LAS. Both Glickman and Lefkoff believe that if an employee at another business were found soliciting customers away from their own company, they would face disciplinary actions or be fired.

A lot of publicity for the petition has been drummed up because of the fresh wound inflicted on Illini recruiting when one of the top basketball recruits, Eric Gordon, decided to attend Midnight Madness at Indiana University instead of Illinois. This leads many to believe that Gordon will break a verbal commitment to Illinois and attend Indiana.

“Everyone thought he was going to be a slam dunk,'” said Ben Neidich, senior in LAS and another roommate of Glickman’s and supporter of the petition.

Neidich said that even though there is no evidence to suggest that Kaufman’s letters had any influence over Gordon’s decision, the basketball star’s likely decision has rubbed fans the wrong way, Neidich said.

Kaufman said in an e-mail interview that he feels that the actions taken by Glickman have not been carefully thought through and are based on misinformation. Mainly, Kaufman said that none of his actions are illegal.

On March 2, 2001, former University Chancellor Michael Aiken issued a memo to faculty and staff stating that “no contacts are permitted with prospective student athletes, including high school and junior college students, by University students, employees or others associated with the University without express authorization of the director of athletics or his designee.”

After a hearing with U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm in July 2001, Aiken rescinded the memo, and the University had to pay five Chief opponents each $1,000 in damages they suffered through this regulated contact, according to freedomforum.org.

“Our right to speak out on issues of public concern is fundamental,” Kaufman said through e-mail. “Mr. Glickman’s petition clearly is an attempt to silence speech .. His personal interests do not trump the U.S. Constitution.”

Kaufman said that another discrepancy in Glickman’s claim is his request for Kaufman’s resignation. Kaufman’s official title is that of professor emeritus. He is already retired.

The original goal for Glickman’s petition was 1,000 signatures. It was quickly bumped up to 3,000 and has well over that number at the time of publication.

“I’m going to hopefully keep generating press about it until the Board of Trustees responds,” Glickman said. “I’ve sent them e-mails, and Chancellor (Richard) Herman and President White. But so far, no response.”