Otter Challenges Chief

The Champaign-Urbana area has been racked by intense debate over the last couple of weeks concerning the future of University of Illinois and its mascot. Consequently, a major public institution discussing their future image has caught national attention, including ESPN’s “Around the Horn”.

Known as the Fighting Illini, the University of Illinois had long been represented by Chief Illiniwek, who was from the Illinois Confederation, one of the Native American tribes that lived in present-day Illinois. Chief Illiniwek has not performed at Illinois athletic events since February 21, 2007, his last performance after Oglala Sioux Tribe asked the University to terminate the usage of the mascot and return the materials back to Oglala tribe leader Frank Fools Crow. Since 2007, the Illini have been without a mascot to represent them, choosing to revert to their timeless “I-L-L-I-N-I” chant. Students at Illinois were looking for something fresh and innovative and when that happens, results can be quite controversial.

Two popular designs have come from this exploration by the student body, which has been in the works for over a year. Enter Alma Otter (yes, an actual otter) and the Champ (a World War I soldier wearing his uniform).

Let’s first discuss Alma Otter, created by University of Illinois students Austin Lindell and John Farwick as a play on words in relation to Alma Mater, the famous statue in the heart of the Illinois campus. The Otter is shown in a meme raising his hands in the air sporting a blue Illinois jersey with orange lettering. Many people are opposed to this radical idea as some feel it is completely irrelevant to the University of Illinois and do not want the prestigious university to be portrayed as “cute.” However, as the creators point out, the Otter would fit right in with other Big Ten Conference mascots, like the Minnesota Golden Gopher and Wisconsin Badgers. Also, recent wildlife studies have shown that the river otter is making a comeback in the state of Illinois after being endangered for many years. Alma Otter has been backed mainly by enthusiastic students looking for something new, but has faced scrutiny from angry traditionalists seeking to preserve the legend of The Chief.

Considered the more realistic design of the two, Champ the Fighting Illini was created by Illinois student Mike Skibski. The design depicts a World War I soldier, known as a doughboy, wearing the basic uniform colored in orange and blue with the Fighting Illini “I” logo on the front of the soldier’s hat. Clearly the more practical choice as Kevin Cole, a graduate assistant for the University of Illinois Athletic Department points out that “…it is more realistic since our football stadium is dedicated to World War I.” It remains to be seen if the student body will get to vote on this design as the traditionalists seem more open to this idea compared to Alma Otter.

On Friday, March 8, the University of Illinois Student Government posed the question “Do you approve of making Alma Otter an official symbol of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?” to student voters. The vote resulted in 52% of students going against the idea of adopting the otter as the symbol and mascot for the University of Illinois. More than 7,000 students voted on the matter, which is less than a quarter of the students that attend the university.

The vote was surprisingly close however, as 3,807 voted against the otter compared to 3,510 students in favor. The results indicate that something needs to change and for the otter to almost win a poll in a small sample portrays that a fair amount of students are open to the idea of change.

The University of Illinois cannot continue to be represented by a time-old tradition that has a different meaning in today’s society and hoping that one day it will be okay again. The fact of the matter is they have to move on and learn how to adapt to society in an era of social media and technology where nothing skates by, nonetheless an Indian chief as a mascot. Clearly it will not be the otter, but the student body needs to create an idea that everybody agrees on and stick to that idea. This not might be the most popular method among alumni but they have to realize this is the era we live in and if they do not understand that, they need to wake up.