week 13

"As we are already aware, debate about the Chief continues to be present on campus and among alumni. Being that this is still an issue, Campus Spirit Revival has decided to host a forum titled 'TRADITION OR TRANSITION: A FORUM ON CHIEF ILLINIWEK' on April 16, 2013 from 5-8pm at Greg Hall 213. Here, both sides, pro and anti-Chief will be able to come together and state their reasoning behind having no mascot, having a new mascot, and bringing back the Chief. The main reason for this event is that communication between us and Stop Campus Spirit Revival and other pro-Chief individuals has been going on mainly via facebook and we have come to understand that this type of communication is fertile ground for misunderstandings, so to eliminate this barrier we have created a public forum."

4/16/13
Greg Hall 213
5-8pm

Going into this debate like lecture event I was sure that there would be more of a two sided argument/conversation. I feel as though they didn't really advertise this event very well. They put a poster on the door after the event had already started. If it wasn't for this class I wouldn't have seen or heard anything of it. So not too many people showed up and those that did we mostly if not all pro campus revitalization/ anti chief. They did a good job on presenting their side and giving proof that what  the chief has stood for/portrayed was politically incorrect based on what native american culture it was being pulled from but i feel as though their argument could have been stronger. I really enjoyed/ appreciated the fact that one of the students who has bee the chief and plays a big role in the pro chief movement was there. He wasn't afraid to stand his ground even though he was being bombarded with questions and rebuttals. I tended to agree or consider more of the points he was making just because he seemed to be more neutral and talking about ways that the chief could possible work if the proper changes were made. The issue itself is super touchy and everyone has their own opinion and ways that they may be personally affected but for this kind of topic to go anywhere alot more research and work has to be done. some people there seemed to be very one sided and  tended to not want to listen to the opposing side or they would say their tid bit and then leave so they wouldn't have to deal with any comments coming back. this forum went on for three hours and although i finally got alot more information and background on the topic nothing was really settled, it wouldnt be able to be this topic is at a much higher jurisdiction at this point. i left understanding more of the topic/argument and glad that i went to this event even if it wasn't perfect it was still insightful.