CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – A student committee at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is looking into whether the school is ready to move on nine years after Chief Illiniwek was retired.

The co-chairs of the Illinois Student Senate committee stress that the effort isn’t to actually choose a mascot, but to see if people are ready for one.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette areports the students differentiate between Chief Illiniwek, which the school and backers say is a symbol, and a sports mascot like at other schools.

The effort started last fall. School spokeswoman Robin Kaler says interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson is “very supportive,” but has made it clear that any concepts created must not contain Native American imagery.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com