Don’t come to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. That is the message 14 Illinois faculty members are sending to some of the university’s athletics recruits because of a controversy over Chief Illiniwek, the Illinois mascot that some people feel is hostile to American Indians.

Led by Stephen J. Kaufman, an emeritus professor of cell and developmental biology and a longtime critic of the university’s use of an American Indian mascot, the faculty members wrote letters to prospects advising them to “think twice about whether the university is a good environment for you to further your education and athletic career” because of the chief, according to today’s Chicago Tribune.

“After 16 years of debating the issue the Board of Trustees still refuses to take the necessary action, and no end appears in sight,” the letter says. “Do you want to play at a school that refuses to commit to equality for all races and that places more value on an outdated and divisive mascot than on a winning athletic program?”

More than 1,300 students have signed a petition asking the professors to send letters of retraction to the recruits and to resign from their university posts.

The university is facing the loss of NCAA tournament appearances if it does not drop the controversial mascot. A rumored deal in August that would have transferred ownership of the mascot to Illinois alumni appears to have gone nowhere. And a lawsuit was dismissed last month by a state court (The Chronicle, September 20).