Logo in Limbo

The U of I board of trustees will vote on a resolution tomorrow that could push decisions about the chief off to administrators. In it the board would recommend the University stop using the name "Chief Illiniwek" and the logo. It's a decision the creator will be watching closely. He says ultimately he doesn't want the chief logo to go away. It'll be up to University administrators to decide that, if the resolution passes at the meeting Tuesday. Until then the logo's creator, Jack Davis, could be in limbo. He calls the wait and the entire question about this symbol disappointing. It took Davis months to make this emblem for the University's athletic department back in 1981. He says if the school shelves it, it would defeat its entire purpose. Davis' biggest fear is this symbol reproduced on the black market. "I don't think I'd like that," he says. "Being the artist and an alumni. I wouldn't like that at all. Best case scenario I'd love to see the University keep using it for the athletic programs, and in fact I'd like to see them use it more than they have been lately." It's not just the logo. Under the resolution, administrators like President Joseph White and Chancellor Richard Herman would also have to tie up other loose ends like what will happen to the 3-in-1. Administrators say none of these decisions will be easy. They expect they'll get public input before making some of them. However, the logo decision in particular has a lot of people asking questions. That's because the school makes nearly two-million-dollars a year off trademark royalties, a large portion of that from this chief logo.