This year the University of Illinois had a Homecoming to remember: there was incredible weather for students and alumni, a win from the Fighting Illini and an unfortunate case of alliteration from a fraternity that has made headlines in local news.
Delta Chi fraternity is currently under fire for their Homecoming decorations, which featured a large paddle with the phrase “Gut the Gophers” along with what appears to be Chief Illiniwek looming over a gopher with utensils in his hand.
The image of this has been circulating around social media with tags of “discrimination” and “offensive” not far behind. While clearly it was not the best idea, especially in hindsight, the backlash is not proportionate to the offense.
This was clearly not meant to reflect on the fraternity’s opinions on Native Americans, a rally call to violence towards visiting fans or anything of a sinister nature. It is clear in the statement to The Daily Illini that there was nothing on their minds other than school pride when they made this sign.
They simply came up with what they thought was a catchy way to encourage the Fighting Illini to win. It has all the elements of a good Homecoming cheer too; it’s short, has alliteration and is memorable. There is also nothing overtly graphic about the characters on the paddle and, regardless of what the official policy is, the Chief will always be the symbol of Illini pride and this was definitely not the only depiction of the Chief seen during the weekend.
In my opinion, seeing as there were no graphic and overtly offensive depictions on this paddle, this has been blown way out of proportion. It was a simple act of school pride that, according to the university, went too far.
UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler said to the News-Gazette, “While we respect constitutional protections of speech and expression, the (fraternity's) display was disappointing and inconsistent with our commitment to a welcoming community… We want the chapter to reflect on the impact their behavior has on fellow students and the campus climate."
The fraternity definitely has not broken any laws and it’s vague if they have even broken any official school rules. If that is the case, they shouldn’t receive anything more than a slap on the wrist.
While this university has had issues with diversity and acceptance in the past few years, this is not one of them. This is an issue that has been blown way out of proportion and used as fuel by some to perpetuate the idea that we are intolerant campus.
But let me ask this question: if you were to travel to any university in this country during their homecoming weekend, what do you think you would see? Signs saying things like destroy, annihilate, stomp, fight and several other options that are not “welcoming” to the visiting team. Just as in this case, they are not used to incite violence, but merely a way to show school pride.
This issue makes me wonder how far our freedom of speech is really allowed to go on campus, when a simple sign can get an entire organization in trouble. If the university is going to continue to try to censor organizations then they at least need to set clear guidelines as to what is and isn’t allowed.
The real question is where does it end? How long will it be until someone deems the “Fighting Illini” too offensive and we become something like the “Friendly Illini”? I am all for reprimanding organizations when they truly cross a line, but in this case things have been taken too far.
