:: Running from the Thought Police ::

:: Friday, March 12, 2004 ::

At Least The Student Trustee Has The Guts To Do It

Nate Allan, UIUC student trustee, will put the Chief resolution on the agenda for the next trustee meeting and will not withdraw it.

...Allen said the debate between pro- and anti-Chief groups "has slowly become more destructive on campus, on an administrative level, and (in terms of) the student body becoming more divisive."

Allen said he decided to take action after seeing protests and rallies by pro- and anti-Chief groups this week.

"What I've seen on campus, especially in the past week, is saddening and almost disgusting," he said. "I'm looking out on the Quad and you see African Americans, Latinos, Asians and whites in one pocket, and on the other, on the pro-Chief side, it's all whites. I'm not going to get into the argument if (the Chief) is racist, but it's racially divisive. [emphasis mine]

"It's just going to get worse and worse and worse," Allen said. "And so, I can't sit back anymore."

Allen said while retiring the Chief "would be in the best interests of the student body," he didn't care if the resolution had enough votes for passage or not.

"I don't see any good coming out of extending (a vote)," Allen said. "It's clear we have to retain the Chief or return it."

Needless to say, I'm really glad I voted for this guy last year.

Some trustrees are still under the delusion that there can be a compromise or consensus on the issue. Neither side will give - the Anti-Chief crowd is secure in its correctness and won't back down until the Chief is retired. The Pro-Chief crowd is too set in the past to change without a power from on high batting them down.

There's also a really offensive bit about some other trustees proposing a rule that will effectively silence the student trustee, but more on that when I'm not posting between classes.

:: The Squire 10:36 AM :: email this post :: ::
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