University of Illinois students begin voting on proposed mascot belted kingfisher

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Wednesday, March 4, 2020
University of Illinois students begin voting on mascot belted kingfisher
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign students start voting on a new school mascot Wednesday.

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign students start voting on a new school mascot Wednesday.

The two-day, non-binding vote will gauge whether to make the belted kingfisher the new mascot. It's a bird native to Illinois.

The belted kingfisher sports the school colors of orange and blue.

It's the second year that the Illinois student government has put out a mascot referendum for a vote, with last year's Alma Otter being voted down.

The outcome of this year's vote won't be announced until next Wednesday.