It has been six years since the University has had an official mascot and as far as students are concerned, it looks to remain that way.

The results of a March student referendum that looked to gauge student opinion about a new mascot for the University show that the most popular new mascot is “no change,” which received 15 percent of the vote, followed by “other,” which received 12 percent of the vote and was another popular answer due to support for Chief Illiniwek. The most popular mascot of the 48 choices was “Eagle,” which was an eagle with its wings spread, similar to the headdress of Chief Illiniwek. The eagle logo garnered 9 percent of the vote.

The referendum results were released following a May 9 moot court decision regarding the constitutionality of an Illinois Student Senate resolution that created the survey. In the case Joshua Good v. David Pileski, Good brought into question the constitutionality of the resolution to discuss a new mascot because he felt it was in violation of the Illinois Student Senate constitution.

Good said that the resolution was in direct conflict with two separate student referenda that bind ISS to support Chief Illiniwek as a symbol of the University. The referendums in question were passed in 2005 and 2008 regarding Chief Illiniwek as an official symbol of the University.

The 2005 referendum asked, “Do you support Chief Illiniwek as the Symbol for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?” The referendum passed with 69.5 percent of student support.

In 2005, Chief Illiniwek was still the official mascot of the University, and Chief Illiniwek performances were still held at basketball and football games. In 2007, the Board of Trustees voted to retire Chief Illiniwek, ending performances by the Chief and the use of Native American imagery associated with the University.

In response to the Board of Trustees decision, students put another referendum on the student ballot in 2008, which asked, “Do you support the reinstatement of Chief Illiniwek as the symbol of the University of Illinois?” This resolution also passed, with 79 percent of the student vote.

Good argued that since the referenda were binding on the student senate, according to ISS constitution, ISS was not able to begin a search for a new mascot.

The question was brought to the law school Moot Court Board Judiciary, which found the referendum constitutional, citing the difference between a symbol and a mascot. The 2005 and 2008 referenda regarded the chief as a symbol, and the new referendum was in search of a new mascot.

“This Court cannot read meaning into the text of the referenda and will not conflate the definitions of ‘symbol’ and mascot,’” the moot court decision read. “When referenda and resolutions use different words, we must assume that they have different meanings.”

The moot court decision said “a mascot need not be the only symbol a university employs,” citing the multiple symbols the University currently has: the “Block I,” “Illinois” logo, Alma Mater and Chief Illiniwek.

The resolution was sponsored by both ISS and Campus Spirit Revival, an RSO on campus that supports finding a new mascot. Other popular alternatives have included Chef Illini, two different wolf mascots and an Abraham Lincoln mascot.

Another resolution on the spring ballot asked if students “support Chief Illiniwek as the official symbol of the University.” Students supported the Chief by a 4-to-1 margin.

At the May 13 (Urbana-Champaign) Senate Executive Committee meeting, Chancellor Phyllis Wise reiterated her view that the University needs to move past the Chief.

“I’m a biologist,” she said. “I believe you can’t go backwards. When a baby is born, you can’t put the baby back in the womb … Any energy we spend going back and trying to restore something is counterproductive.”

Wise said she has been working the past couple months to help figure out the best way for the University to move past the Chief. Her efforts included a visit to the Peoria Tribe in Oklahoma and a planned trip to Miami (Ohio) University.

Miami transitioned its mascot from “Redskins” to “Redhawks” in the 1970s.

Though Wise has maintained that she wants to move forward, there is no plan for a mascot change at this time.

Johnathan and Stephen can be reached at [email protected].