I come from a diverse cultural background of dutch, Irish, English and Cherokee/Navajo. My mother’s step father was also Cherokee and he had a lot of influence on me early on.

Well the point of this letter is to express to you and your readers my absolute shock and sadness about the loss of the Chief as an Illini symbol of school spirit. I think this is a tragedy brought on by the few groups of people who just misinterpret the Chief and nitpicked at the Chief until they found a problem. Truth being told, their is not a problem with the Chief. If any thing, he conveys a much-needed message of Native American Indian culture in a town/country that has none with out him. Well, none that I have seen or heard of in my life here.

What’s this I am also hearing about the possible ban on the word Illini? Also, I think the Chief symbol for sports and apparel should stay. I can’t believe that the town has caved in to people who just want to protest something. What’s happening is wrong and, in my opinion, should be stopped. I feel like my opinion doesn’t matter now and to be right you have to jump on the anti-Chief bandwagon. Well, I won’t and I hope you won’t either. Don’t let your opinion fall to the wayside. If you like the Chief, then protest their protest.

I just don’t think we should let the Chief slip away without a real attempt to show his true meaning of bravery, sacrifice and honor. Not the hateful symbol of some bigot, which is just an orchestrated fabrication of the truth. Please don’t miss the chance to really express what you think about this and instead be led by others. Even if you have a different opinion, I want to see every one have a say because it’s every ones loss when we loss the Chief, Illini and the tradition.

Robert Goode

Champaign