The University’s struggle for racial tolerance took another hit, this time from comments made on a pro-Chief Facebook group’s wall.

Two students posted derogatory comments towards American Indians on the wall of the “If They Get Rid of the Chief I’m Becoming a Racist” group and threatened a University graduate student. These students could face disciplinary action from the University or legal actions for hate crimes.

The pro-Chief group has since been removed from Facebook but was formed as far back as early November. The first controversial post was written on Nov. 20.

“What they don’t realize is that there was never a racist problem before,” wrote one of the students. “But now I hate redskins and hope all those drunk, casino owning bums die.”

But action was prompted from a second post on Dec. 2.

“Apparently the leader of this movement is of Sioux descent. Which means what, you ask? The Sioux indians are the ones that killed off the Illini indians, so she’s just trying to finish what her ancestors started. I say we throw a tomohawk into her face.”

A press release by the University’s American Indian Studies program and Native American House brought these threats to light on Jan. 8, calling for the University to take legal and disciplinary action against these students.

Chancellor Richard Herman sent a mass e-mail to the members of the C-U community explaining that the University has spent 140 years creating a “welcoming environment” and that he “will not tolerate such violent threats.”

The incident has been referred to the Office of Student Conflict Resolution, which will determine if the student code can apply disciplinary action to these students. Herman said in his e-mail the University “will take all legal and disciplinary action available.”

But not every student in the group knew it harbored such extreme views. Lizzy Cunningham, freshman in LAS, was one of the 110 members but had never seen the postings before the issue blew up.

“I don’t know what the people were thinking when they wrote them,” she said. “But they were really inappropriate.”

Other pro-Chief organizations have addressed this issue, too. Students For Chief Illiniwek, a registered student organization at the University, came to the forefront of the conflict, attempting to separate themselves from the negative stigma these students put onto the pro-Chief group.

“Our organization and its members are not involved in or responsible for the comments in question,” wrote Paul Schmitt, vice president of the student group, in a press release. “We feel that these comments highlight the need for further education on the history of the Chief Illiniwek tradition…”

But others feel these threats towards a American Indian student illustrate a larger problem at the University. Wanda Pillow, director of the Native American House and American Indian Studies program, said this incident shows the need for campus administration and the Board of Trustees to address the issues of race on campus, along with resolving the debate over the Chief.

“The anti-Indian attitudes that were expressed on the webpage demonstrate the hostile and abusive environment which persists for people of color at the University,” said Pillow in an e-mail interview.

There are Facebook groups for students who are anti-Chief, or more broadly, against racism. Lindsey Bever, senior in LAS, created the group “Students Against Racist Mascots.” She said the Facebook group shows how the Chief can make people unattached to what the Chief should represent.

“They may have thought it (the post) was funny at the time,” she said. “But now they may realize that it was dumb to write.”

But there are other groups that try to further the fight to abolish the use of the Chief. Ronu Ghoshal, a University alum, created an anti-Chief group with the hope to bring more attention to the fight against the Chief.

“I do not believe that most Chief supporters are racist or hateful individuals,” he said in an e-mail interview. “Rather, I felt that through this group, I could express just how strongly many of us feel about the need to remove the Chief.”

The issues of race-relations on the C-U campus has been noted specifically by James Kaplan, chairman of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He said the University is the only one in the state that he knows of with specific race-related incidents, referring also to the exchange earlier in the year between the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and Delta Delta Delta sorority.

Kaplan said the board works to promote diversity as a “valuable element at universities.” About the Facebook incident, he said, “When you belittle any of us, you belittle all of us.”

Chancellor Herman in his e-mail invited the community to a forum addressing the ways to create a more welcoming campus environment. The forum will be held on Feb. 1 at 4 p.m. in Foellinger Auditorium.

“The plans for the forum are already in place due to some theme parties we had earlier,” said Herman, adding that he hopes this will be “a way forward, a way to declare our shared values and make sure we act on them everyday.”

The Daily Illini staff contributed to this report.

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