Staging an intervention in a virtual dystopia: The online fallout of the race, power and privilege forum and the removal of “Chief Illiniwek”

I was working on my Master's degree in Theatre History and Criticism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) when the university's controversial mascot, “Chief Illiniwek,”¹ was removed. The activism that led up to this action received a large amount of media attention, particularly in The Daily Illini,² “the independent student newspaper” at UIUC. Comments on the newspaper's website such as, “You individuals at The Native American House, in addition to the members of STOP [Students Transforming Oppression and Privilege], ought to be ashamed of yourselves. If you don't like living in Illinois or the United States MOVE somewhere else!!!!!” found after the February 23, 2007 article, “STOP Responds to University Chief Decision,” were all too common. Although I later became involved with the STOP Coalition and other campus groups, my initial engagements with activism in the community were virtual.