URBANA — Chancellor Robert Jones hasn't ruled out the idea of choosing a mascot or some other tradition to fill the void left by the departure of Chief Illiniwek — just "not right now."
His predecessor, former interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson, endorsed the idea last May after an Illinois Student Senate panel recommended appointing a committee to find the "first-ever" mascot for the campus.
And with the UI still waiting for hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding — and poised to kick off a 150th anniversary celebration next week and a major fundraising campaign later this year — this may not be the best time, Jones told faculty members Thursday.