Johnson wants C-U to host hearings on NCAA bill

November 2, 2006

Congressional hearings about university governance and the NCAA could be held in Champaign-Urbana by the end of this year.

Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, and his staff are working with a congressional committee to hold hearings here about a bill that would allow the University of Illinois, or any other university, to sue the NCAA and seek damages for lost revenue if barred from hosting a championship game.

A date and location have not been finalized yet. But Johnson said he would like the hearings to be held here before the end of the year.

House Bill 5289, the Protection of University Governance Act of 2006, proposes to limit the NCAA's ability to apply sanctions on colleges or universities because of a team's name, symbol, emblem or mascot.

Johnson introduced the bill with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Yorkville, in May. Since then it was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness.

"The format and location of hearings are entirely at the discretion of the committee," Johnson said.

Congressional committees are often held around the country so supporters and opponents of the legislation don't have to spend money to travel to Washington, D.C., Johnson said.

Johnson, who supports retaining Chief Illiniwek as the UI's symbol, said it is important for both sides of the issue to speak at the hearings.

"It's not simply a Chief Illiniwek bill. It would affect a number of institutions across the country," Johnson said. "It's a matter of institutional autonomy."

Last spring the NCAAExecutive Committee said the UI could not host postseason athletic competitions unless it gets rid of Chief Illiniwek.

The athletic association issued a policy in August 2005 which prohibits postseason competition at colleges or universities with "hostile or abusive" racial, ethnic or national origin mascots or symbols. The UI was one of 18 schools included on the list of institutions with "hostile or abusive" mascots or symbols.

"I am a supporter of Chief Illiniwek. But at the same time this is a decision left to the (UI) board of trustees," Johnson said.

UI officials are monitoring the legislation but are not making any assumptions about what might happen or when it could happen, said UI spokesman Tom Hardy.

"The university has not been contacted about a hearing on the legislation, so no decision has been made about what, if any, involvement the university would have in such a proceeding," Hardy said.

In the meantime, the UI Board of Trustees' consensus process continues, he said. Trustees have not set a timetable for deciding the fate of Chief Illiniwek.