The University of Illinois board of trustees stepped back Monday from deciding the fate of Chief Illiniwek, choosing instead to consider at their meeting Thursday a "consensus resolution" aimed at easing the increasingly sharp rhetoric surrounding the controversial symbol of the Urbana Champaign campus' athletic teams. [more] and [more] Many feel that the mascot sends a message of disrespect to American Indians. [more] The 'Chief' is a white male college student who dances on the sidelines at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign football games. This modern-day minstrel show was invented by white students 75 years ago. Despite years of protests by Native American groups and progressive students, the University continues to defend keeping it as their symbol. [more]