Mascot for University of Illinois?

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#151      
+1 for soldier hero

If that is too serious for a mascot then either captain America knockoff with :shield: shield :shield: or +1 for orange giant squid
 
#152      
I have been championing for this for about a year. I was in Krush and there for his last dance. I love Chief and always will, but we are losing out on market opportunity and branding being without a symbol or mascot. My personal preference is something that I thing both sides of the aisle can rally around. The birthplace of the term "Fighting Illini" comes from when we were raising funds for Memorial stadium. I think that a WWI doughboy would be most fitting. I would love to figure how to contact the committee with this. Here are a few examples of images from google already out there:

fighting-illini-mock2.jpg


Not a WWI doughboy, but I still like the imagery
1E0E5245-D343-4013-BC44-9BD87844EDBE_zps6idokcmy.jpg



8o7wHLr.png

All of this imagery is not inclusive of women and marginalizes their contributions to the university. This is culturally appropriating combat and placing it in an esteemed academic institution.
 
#153      

Illwinsagain

Cary, IL
Well, I am a Chief fan, I get that it is over, don't like it. That being said, HAL could be fun. Is that really a UI product? Otherwise, something to celebrate all the firsts. 1st Homecoming, 1st internet thingy (Plato), 1st underground library. Or how about the Nobels, for all of the Nobel prize winners, every week we could celebrate a different winner in some sort of warm fuzzy man/woman costume. Maybe the little kids would get inspired to follow suit and be incredible researchers. OK, I am half kidding, but I don't have anything better. As mentioned before, I always thought WWI soldier would be the best replacement, however, it sounds like that is being shot down. OK, bad pun.

Edit: Looks like we have had 23 winners (alumni or faculty)
http://illinois.edu/about/awards.html#awards-nobels
 
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#155      
All of this imagery is not inclusive of women and marginalizes their contributions to the university. This is culturally appropriating combat and placing it in an esteemed academic institution.

You are saying their is no room in the university for combat. Your objection to it marginalizes our Illini contributions in death to WWI & WWII. I have always thought that the symbol for our institution should be revered and respected just like those men should be.
 
#156      
Though people will spin it that way, this really doesn't have much to do with the Chief. This is about branding. It's about having a figure that can attend media events, and that kids can take pictures with. It's something that can be in commercials when Capitol One does its whole mascot thing.
...

My only concern with the soldier is that it won't be quite as warm and cuddly as the other mascots. Pretty tough to make a soldier cute without it becoming pretty farcical.

Another option I think would be something along the Flying Illini theme. Some sort of hawk or something. I'm less into that idea, but it would probably be easier to create a fuzzy mascot from that.

Generally, I'm on board with this because it's something that will help our marketing and give the kids (who don't have any connection to the Chief) something to get excited about. Does it do much for me personally? No.

I'm going to have to vehemently disagree with the bolded. I can assure you this effort has no origin from the athletic department, who manages near all of our branding. This has everything to do with academics and SJWs working to purge the lasting traces of the chief from our campus. They firmly believe the absence of a mascot is the reason the chief's presence continues to hang around.

Regarding the soldier, I see no way that we can have a soldier as a mascot in the standard definition that is not viewed as offensive if the chief was offensive just as a symbol. To ask a soldier mascot at games to deliver shirts, take pictures, and whatever isn't respectful of armed forces. If we aren't going to have the new mascot figure fill those roles, it isn't a mascot.

Ultimately, I think the answer is to follow the Michigan/IU mold, and be mascot-less. You can build a strong brand by winning, and as we all know, nobody needs a mascot to rally around at sporting events. We need a winning team, but there is no correlation between winning teams and having mascots, or between mascots and strong brands.
 
#157      

frankfortillini

Frankfort, IL
Technically there was not an Illini tribe, but a group of 12-13 tribes that were sometimes referred to as the Illini or Illiniwek.

But there was no Chief Illiniwek - but different Chiefs for each of the tribes.

Still best that symbol is in the past - time to look forward and route for Lil' Squirrel Illini as out new mascot. We can let hundreds of squirrels loose at halftime and watch chaos erupt.
 
#160      

TownieMatt

CU Expat
Chicago
I'm going to have to vehemently disagree with the bolded. I can assure you this effort has no origin from the athletic department, who manages near all of our branding. This has everything to do with academics and SJWs working to purge the lasting traces of the chief from our campus. They firmly believe the absence of a mascot is the reason the chief's presence continues to hang around.

Regarding the soldier, I see no way that we can have a soldier as a mascot in the standard definition that is not viewed as offensive if the chief was offensive just as a symbol. To ask a soldier mascot at games to deliver shirts, take pictures, and whatever isn't respectful of armed forces. If we aren't going to have the new mascot figure fill those roles, it isn't a mascot.

Ultimately, I think the answer is to follow the Michigan/IU mold, and be mascot-less. You can build a strong brand by winning, and as we all know, nobody needs a mascot to rally around at sporting events. We need a winning team, but there is no correlation between winning teams and having mascots, or between mascots and strong brands.

I can see how you would feel that way, and I'm sure there are those that would like to see a new mascot's face instead of the Chief's at Illini games. However, I don't think that's the primary motivator of student government that voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new mascot. Most students are barely old enough to remember much of the Chief at all.

Also, after reading many opinions on a new mascot. I agree that a soldier probably isn't the direction the university would look to go in. However, I certainly don't see it as being sexist (as argued above). There's certainly no reason a female couldn't portray the mascot.

However, I do think it could be seen as stepping on the toes of the military academies, who certainly deserve to have those mascots exclusively if they so wish. I think more practically it just doesn't make a lot of sense from a marketing prospective. I can certainly think of situations where a soldier mascot might be awkward.

I have a more kid-friendly mock up that I'll post tonight when I get home from work and can fire up some photoshop action (teaser alert).
 
#161      

89illinigrad

Chicago
Well, since the state mammal is the White Tailed Deer, why not the Fighting Bucks (or Doe's for the women's teams)?

Or we could go with the state insect, the Monarch Butterfly.

Or the state fossil, the Tully Monster (has an ominous ring to it).
 
#164      

Mike

C-U Townie
Play nice yall!
Just had a post deleted by the man because I can't play nice enough. ;)
Was a bit mad until I realized how awesome this/his site.

Would personally prefer a mascot having something to do with the Illini Indians, since that is what we are named after.
 
#165      

BZuppke

Plainfield
Since the state is known as the world leader in growing pumpkins...I propose Peter Pumpkinhead!

Actually this pumpkin idea has some merit. Gruesome creatures are in (think Tim Burton). A malevolent pumpkin could be interesting.
 
#166      

Ransom Stoddard

Ordained Dudeist Priest
Bloomington, IL
Jeremy Werner‏@JWernerScout 25m25 minutes ago
Even if you don't agree with this, this is the type of healthy conversation that should occur (Re: Illini mascot)https://twitter.com/jstriebel22/status/727564530646048768

https://twitter.com/jstriebel22/status/727564530646048768 Justin Striebel @jstriebel22 I have a big idea. Let me know if you think it is or could become a good idea. #Illini http://achiefsolution.com

That's a well written article, and one that I agree with wholeheartedly. It is similar to what Central Michigan has done, Florida State does to a small extent, and I believe North Dakota State had also done. BTW, NDSU "retired" the Fighting Sioux a few years back and are now the Fighting Hawks

I hate to constantly sound like a nay-sayer, however, but it's my understanding that Native American House and the Department of American Indian Studies (which may now be defunct) have expressed an unwillingness to compromise at all on this topic.
 
#167      
That's a well written article, and one that I agree with wholeheartedly. It is similar to what Central Michigan has done, Florida State does to a small extent, and I believe North Dakota State had also done. BTW, NDSU "retired" the Fighting Sioux a few years back and are now the Fighting Hawks

I hate to constantly sound like a nay-sayer, however, but it's my understanding that Native American House and the Department of American Indian Studies (which may now be defunct) have expressed an unwillingness to compromise at all on this topic.

Yeah, it's a good, well meaning idea. And if it had been started up a decade or two ago, it might have worked. But I think the window has closed as of now.
 
#170      

katu06

Downstate
Since she only has the interim title, perhaps she is open to taking more risks. If this plays out well for her, that could mean more opportunities. If it doesn't, well, she was interim only anyway, right?

My two cents, and what it has been for years, is that the Chief is gone. He isn't coming back. It won't be too long before students at U of I will have been born after his final game.

Other than grasping onto the past and living the glory of the "good ol' days", I can't fathom why we'd fight a new mascot. Get a bird, or a turtle, or fox, I don't care. Make it so kids going to games have something to have fun with and give a high five. Have someone for drunk college students to get their pictures with.

This is all just entertainment, right? Why are we the only fan base that feels like we can't have a little fun with our mascot?
 
#171      

KBLEE

Montgomery, IL
Anyone here watch the show Scorpion?

Who better to run around, throw t-shirts and hang with the kiddos than:

super-fun-guy_design.png
 
#172      
The more I think about it, the more a "captain Illini" or whatever, with the shield, makes more sense. Super heroes are very in these days. Might have to work something out with Marvel but Im sure it can be done.
 
#174      
We can propose mascots till the cows come home, but the reality is unless it's organic (as has been stated before) from the student body, it will more likely than not go up in flames!

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P.S. I think the best we've collectively come up with is a Captain America knock-off, or the orange Master Chief from Halo. :thumb:
 
#175      
Let's just be the Fighting Illini. Have a guy dress up in battle gear and rev the folks up a bit. It could be a doughboy, but it could also be modern battle gear.

In the lines of the mountaineer at WVU, or the leprechaun guy at ND. Just a fighting Illini.

I could get on board with a WWI doughboy similar to the WVU Mountaineer, but there's zero chance that it would ever be approved. Too militaristic, too violent, too male-centric, guns are bad, blah blah blah. Maybe if it had started in the 1920s, but not today.

Whatever it is, it will be as lame as humanly possible.
 
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