CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - UI students will have their voices heard this week as they vote on a proposed mascot at student elections Wednesday and Thursday.
UI student Spencer Hulsey proposed the Kingfisher mascot. The orange and blue bird passed the Student Senate 41-0 back on Fed 22.
All Students, graduate and undergraduate, can vote on March 4 and 5 on a nonbinding referendum on whether the school should make the belted kingfisher its new mascot. Students can vote at vote.illinois.edu. According to Hulsey, the results will be known on March 11. The vote is simply being made to see how interested students are.
According to the News Gazette, a similar vote was held last year for a proposed mascot named Alma Otter. Students voted in favor of "no" by a count of 3,807 votes to 3,510.
Chief Illinwek, the original UI mascot, was retired in 2007.
