If this is all about kids eyes lighting up, why not an Orange dinosaur, like Barney in a color that doesn’t suck.
Or maybe this would get campus socialists to fill the stadium. We could probably get the real thing to come and lecture the fans. That would certainly increase sales at concession stands.
The push for the bird, however, is just to drive another spike into the coffin of Chief illiniwek. It is NOT about bringing the campus together or whatever lane rationale proponents publicly espouse. And to that add the elimination of “Illini” from campus, despite a connection almost as old as the university itself.
I myself would be satisfied with a change of regalia for the Chief and honoring Native culture with an annual appointment (at a substantial stipend from enthusiastic alumni base) of a champion fancy dancer who would be proud to share his culture with the university and, by association, with America and the world. Alumni would also gladly donate for the new regalia. It’s a solution that would make almost everyone happy. It would be true to the long self-association of the university with Native Americans, who in turn could be proud of the association with a world class university. It would eliminate the concerns about the lack of authenticity, about a white bit in Indian clothes doing an Indian dance, etc, etc, and rather than causing Native American youth to kill themselves would be aspirational and a point of pride. Can you imagine
THIS on the field at halftime?