UI should put its Chief issue in past

George Will, in his Jan. 5 syndicated column, rhetorically asks why the disapproval of a nickname should doom it. Will asks the wrong question. We must ask if it makes sense for a world-class public university use a nickname that many find offensive. When a mascot is supposed to unite a campus, does it make sense to retain one divisive that over 30 percent of the student body opposes it.

Regardless of one's stance on Chief Illiniwek, no one can deny that the controversy is a huge waste. The university has funded countless diversity studies, which almost all recommend retiring the Chief, and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on wholly unnecessary litigation. We cannot afford to continue wasting time and money on a controversy that will continue to divide and disrupt us.