Below I have written my own opinion on if and how Chief Illiniwek should return as the university's mascot:

For my podcast I gave an explanation as to how I was Pro-Chief, but I gave reasons as to how Chief Illiniwek should comeback as a symbol. Therefore, I have a few points to make on how it should come back as a symbol so the chief and the Native American community is respected.

First off, the question is whether or not the elimination of the chief an act of virtue signaling? Like what does the elimination of the chief actually do to help the Native American Community? If the chief ever fades away will this result not only in the disappearance of the symbol, but also the disappearance of the consciousness of the current problems that the Native American community has?

First of all, here are some statistics about the Native American community, so the poverty rate from them is about twice that of the American population in general, and the annual median household income is about two-thirds that of the nation as a whole. Also, Native Americans have a lower life expectancy, higher infant morality rate, more deaths, and so on. Many also don't have health insurance in comparison to other racial groups. Their high school graduations rates are lower on the reservation than in the rest of the country. Therefore, can we truly say that by removing the mascot it will also move people away from stereotypical portrayals of Native Americans on campuses or do anything to address the problems that are present? Shouldn’t the university try to examine and help remedy these long-standing societal ills?

I believe that the chief should remain U of I's mascot since it has been a part of the university since 1926. I also think that the chief should come back a bit differently and here are a few reasons as to how the chief should return: The mission of the chief should be changed and the university's mission regarding Native Americans should change as well. The chief should be turned into a special symbol. It should educate U of I students and their entire community about Native American history and culture by raising awareness of the chief's history and how the university can use the chief as a way to educate its community and how it can help the Native American community.

Some of the things that the University can do in order to keep the chief alive for years to come are that they should increase the recruitment and the number of scholarships it offers to Native American students; it should also begin collaborative efforts and exchange programs with the smaller colleges that are there to provide Native Americans educational opportunities. Also, the grad and undergrad programs at U of I can become more engaged with Native American condition and they should devote attention to problems specifically affecting the Native American population. There should also be more education provided to students about Native Americans. The education should go beyond the basic information everyone learns in his or her earlier years of school. I think that Native Americans should also be brought out and teach the community about themselves. That way a stronger connection could be built between both communities.

Doing all of this would be beneficial in the sense that one day hopefully the Native American community can become proud to be associated with the University of Illinois. Also, doing this would be a great way in bringing the chief back on campus in a positive and new way.