I just got breaking news on my desk at work. Apparently the University of Illinois is run by several people without a single sense of tradition or a coherent thought in their heads.

This is supposed to be a sports column, but today I have a problem with a potential tradition in the world of sports dying before my very eyes. Sports are built on two premises since the Ancient Greeks’ first Olympic Games: human drama and tradition. Thursday, the most unintelligent decision the University of Illinois could make would be to eliminate its tradition – the legacy of Chief Illiniwek.

The U of I Board of Trustees is voting Thursday to retire the Chief as the symbol not only for the school’s athletic programs but as representation for the school in general.

“It would be unwise for the Board of Trustees to govern under such threats of a few loud people,” President of the Students for Chief Illiniwek organization Dan Bolin said. “It’s simply anarchy by a minority.”

Apparently what happened is that the anti-chief organization claimed that they would engage in “massive disruption” if they didn’t vote on the issue.

When the issue got taken to a judge in 1999, (when the madness should’ve been over) part of the ruling was that 90 percent of the Central Illinois area was pro-Chief.

Apparently, the anti-Chief population didn’t get that memo or chose to ignore it.

This is another fact the people choose to ignore.

The person who is selected as Chief Illiniwek must take a specific Native American class, get excellent marks in said class and spend nearly a year learning the specific dance performed at half-time.

Unfortunately, all the effort U of I goes into making its school symbol legitimate apparently makes it even more offensive to certain organizations.

“Native American groups are offended and what other religion or culture do we proclaim at a half-time show,” Eastern Psychology professor Linda Leal said.

Leal teaches a prejudice and discrimination class at Eastern which takes a day to deal with the issues of Chief Illiniwek.

The University of Illinois recognizes that Chief Illiniwek represents the students, faculty and alumni that are a part of the tradition the school takes very seriously and extreme pride in.

“We feel we treat the image of the Chief with dignity and respect and the U of I would be losing a long part of its history,” Jean Edwards, cofounder of the Honor the Chief Society said.

The War Chant is accurate, the half-time dance is authentic and the Illiniwek Indian tribe is historic. All of these things are what people love about the University of Illinois, not because they want to discriminate against the Native American population, but because if there’s one thing Midwest people feel close is tradition.

“We have a proud tradition at the U of I and getting rid of the Chief would be admitting to the nation that we treated the icon with disrespect and that simply isn’t the case,” Bolin said.

However, the student population at the University of Illinois are partially to blame. On a campus where 90 percent of the population is pro-Chief, the single person that represents them is anti-Chief.

Student Trustee member Nate Allen has stated he feels the only way to put this issue to rest is to retire the Chief. This guy is apparently a born leader and politician for his ability to quit on an issue that most of your representatives obviously find important.

“I strongly disagree with Nate’s opinion on moving the issue along without a fight,” Bolin said. “

Let’s all give a round of applause to the students for voting this spineless character. Technically, the people who put this Mr. Allen in power are to blame as well.

Think about one thing, why has it been socially acceptable for the U of I to keep a mascot and nickname of Native American descent. The reason is they are the expert on how to honor the tradition of the culture and relate it to your universities history. The university would’ve gotten rid of it by itself if it felt it was souring its public name.

“This is isn’t Chief Billy and Florida State Seminoles antics,” Edwards said.

Organizations throughout the University of Illinois have been trying to save its mascot, nickname and historical culture for that matter since 1989.

The fact of the matter is, it isn’t an issue that needs saving.

Chief Illiniwek represents everything solid and purely good about the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The issue will be squashed when they vote Thursday that traditionalism does still have a place somewhere in our nation as we know it today.

Fans including myself along with most importantly alumni at Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall should expect to see Chief Illiniwek’s ceremonial dance at half-time of Fighting Illinois events.

If there comes a day where it is unable to happy, the alumni should spend its donation money somewhere else to make a point.

“It would be a disconcerning effect to have the Board of Trustees govern in that manner if they decide to listen to few while ignoring the majority on this issue,” Bolin said.

“The University of Illinois’ history keeps getting meaningful as the years go by,” Edwards said.

Truer words have never been spoken and for everybody pro-chief continue to fight the good fight because this battle is worth resistance.