Update

July 30, 2006 on 12:25 pm | In Analysis

Since early February 2005 the University of Colorado (CU) has been under pressure from Governor Bill Owens, state legislators, the Board of Regents, and national rightwing organizations to fire American Indian Studies Professor Ward Churchill. The current “controversy” was triggered by their belated discovery of his statements characterizing the attacks of September 11 as predictable consequences of long-standing U.S. foreign policy. However, the attacks are more fundamentally fueled by the fact that he is a tremendously popular teacher and prolific scholar who consistently highlights issues that most Americans would prefer to ignore.

Unable to fire Ward directly for his political speech, CU administrators fueled a media feeding frenzy, solicited allegations against him, and then initiated a “research misconduct” investigation. Blatantly violating their own rules on confidentiality as well as academic freedom, CU officials publicly claimed to be concerned about “plagiarism” and “academic fraud.” In fact, however, they focused on seven technical questions of citation, attribution and historical interpretation, culled from the more than 4,000 pages and 12,000 footnotes Ward has published. (See CU Controversy for statements from all sides.)

A specially appointed investigative committee produced a 124-page report in May 2006. The true nature of its process is reflected in the fact that 44 pages of the report are devoted to contesting three paragraphs Ward wrote about the U.S. army intentionally spreading smallpox among the Mandans in 1837. The committee members recommended termination (or suspension for several years without pay), in part because of they decided he was guilty but primarily, it seems, because of his refusal to retract or apologize for his scholarship. In other words, they want him fired for his “bad attitude.” (See Investigative Report and Critiques of the Report.)

In June 2006, Interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano recommended that Ward Churchill, a tenured full professor, be fired. Ward has filed an internal appeal to the faculty Privilege and Tenure (P&T) Committee, which can make an independent recommendation to CU President Hank Brown who, in turn, reports to the Board of Regents. The Regents make the final decision for CU. This process will probably take several months, after which Ward will likely bring claims for violations of his rights to freedom of speech, due process and equal protection in a court of law.