URBANA, Ill. (AP) - Nine years after the University of Illinois retired Chief Illiniwek a student committee is recommending that the school consider a replacement.

URBANA, Ill. (AP) � Nine years after the University of Illinois retired Chief Illiniwek a student committee is recommending that the school consider a replacement.

The Ad Hoc Committee on the Exploration of a University Mascot recommended that administrators create a process to potentially pick a mascot.

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler told The News-Gazette in Champaign that interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson plans to meet with students to discuss the report. The Student Senate has already endorsed the idea.

The university stopped using Chief Illiniwek in 2007 under pressure from the NCAA.

The committee said a new mascot could give the school something to rally around and the idea appears to be supported by at least a small majority of students. The committee found that most alumni, however, are opposed to the idea.