Ward Churchill Solidarity Network

Reminder

National Emergency Forum to Protect Dissent and Critical Thinking: Why Ward Churchill Must Not Be Fired

Saturday, April 28 ~ 10:00am – 3:30pm
Muenzinger Auditorium EO50

Welcome

• Tom Mayer –- Prof. of Sociology, CU-Boulder 5mins

The Implications for Students and Faculty

• Aaron Smith, Ann-erika White Bird, Dave Staub — CU Students, Students for True Academic Freedom
• Elisa Facio — Assoc. Prof. of Ethnic Studies, CU-Boulder
• Dean Saitta — President of the Faculty Senate and Professor of Anthropology, University of Denver

The Impact on Indigenous Studies, Critiques of Empire

• Chris Mato Nunpa — Assoc. Prof. of Dakota and Indigenous Nations Studies, Southwest Minnesota State Univ.
• Matthew Abraham –- Asst. Prof. of English, DePaul University (Chicago)
• Jennifer Harbury (by video) –- noted attorney, author and activist for human rights reforms in Guatemala and the US

Lunch

• Remarks — Vijay Gupta, Member of CU-AAUP, Prof. of Civil Engineering, CIRES, CU-Boulder

Solidarity Messages with Introduction

• Reggie Dylan, Organizer, National Defend Critical Thinking Initiative

Keynote: “Drawing the National Connections”

• Alan Jones — Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Psychology/Neuroscience, Pitzer College

Followed by a roundtable with forum speakers

• Moderated and with opening remarks by Emma Perez, Assoc. Prof. of Ethnic Studies, CU-Boulder

CU Faculty and American Indian Studies Experts to CU: Rescind the Report of the Investigative Committee

On April 23, nine professors issued an Open Letter Calling on the University of Colorado to retract the Report upon which the recommendation to fire Ward Churchill is based.

According to the professors, a close reading of the Report shows “a pattern of violations” of “standard scholarly practice that are so serious” that research misconduct charges against the authors of the Report may be warranted.

After studying the May 9, 2006 Report, which the CU Investigative Committee insisted on making public in violation of University rules on confidentiality, these faculty members find that it:

* relies on a single biased source for major arguments, importing its errors or distortions;

* artificially excludes independent sources representing alternative views;

* misrepresents a Supreme Court Case to create the false appearance of authoritativeness;

* turns a scholarly debate into an indictment by arbitrarily limiting the scope of interpretation; and

* suppresses text from sources cited by Prof. Churchill, deliberately distorting them to prejudice the reader against Prof. Churchill.

The authors find the pattern of violations “serious enough to justify failing a PhD thesis, let alone an investigative report that is to serve as a basis for firing a tenured, full professor.”

They conclude that the Report “compromises . . . the integrity of the protocols and principles that protect academic freedom” and “puts any professor at risk of arbitrary dismissal.”

Click here to read the Open Letter.

Click here to read the professors’ Summary of Violations.

Click here to read their Documentary Evidence of some of the violations.

Colorado Conference of AAUP Backs Call to Rescind Report

The Executive Committee of the Colorado Conference of the American Association of University Professors called upon CU President Hank Brown to rescind the report accusing Prof. Ward Churchill of research misconduct.

Its letter of April 24, 2007 further states that if the report is not rescinded, the University has an obligation to ensure a thorough examination of the charges made by the faculty by “an independent, qualified, and unbiased panel, not by the investigating committee that made the apparent mistakes in the first place.”

It adds that “no action should be taken on the basis of the Report until this examination is completed.”

Click here to read the letter from the President of the AAUP Colorado Conference.

Attention All Students and Faculty Nationwide

As some of you may know, the investigation and firing decision of University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill is coming to a close. Students and Faculty for True Academic Freedom at CU (a group of committed people supporting dissent and critical thinking as well as Academic Freedom) need YOUR help. We are hosting an Emergency National Forum this Saturday, April 28th, 2007 to discuss Ward’s case and its implications for students and faculty here at Boulder, its impact on Indigenous Studies, and how it can be used to critique imperialism. We are reaching out to build an action network to stop the firing of Ward.  If anyone can make it to Boulder, Colorado, we can put up 10 people in billets but beyond that we can tell you how to find cheap lodging in Boulder. If you cannot make it we need your support on Friday, April 27th. We are planning a national walk-out for students at noon to show that we will not be silenced and that we demand fair and equal respect for all professors. I urge you all to stand up, come together and send out press releases before the walk-out. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Kim Collins at kim4wardchurchill@yahoo.com or at 719-321-4343.

Alumni Blackmail, Not Teaching, Determines Who Gets “Teaching” Award: Students Meet With Alumni Association To Protest Withholding of Award

On Friday April 13, CU students met with the Alumni Association representatives to protest the group’s refusal to give Prof. Churchill the award voted him by the students last year.  They were bluntly informed that the Alumni Association would not follow through because wealthy alumni had threatened to withdraw funding if the award were granted.

Professors Challenge Validity of CU Investigative Report

On Thursday April 12, American Indian Studies Professor Eric Cheyfitz (Cornell), Indigenous Nations Studies Professor Michael Yellow Bird, and CU Ethnic Studies Professor Emma Perez challenged the factual basis of the Investigative Committee’s report.  Many in attendance reported being convinced that the report is a frame-up, and that the administration is simply creating excuses to fire Professor Ward Churchill.

See Denver Post coverage here:

Indian-history expert backs Churchill
By Electa Draper
Denver Post Staff Writer

Boulder - A nationally recognized expert in American Indian history and law Thursday night defended the work of Ward Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado facing dismissal because of charges of research misconduct.

Cornell University American studies professor Eric Cheyfitz said at a campus colloquium that he has re-examined the academic case against Churchill and has found “the charges are fundamentally baseless.”

He said that Churchill has been a leader in genocide studies and his contributions have been significant.

Churchill, who identifies himself as a Native American, has been the subject of two years of investigation and review triggered by his infamous essay calling some victims of Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks “little Eichmanns,” a reference to Nazi bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann.

A CU investigation into charges that Churchill had been a poor scholar lasted 15 months and yielded a 124-page report with a finding that he had committed serious academic misconduct, including plagiarism, falsification and fabrication.

Then-interim chancellor Phil DiStefano notified Churchill in June that he intended to fire him based on the work of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct. Its investigation is still under review by another CU faculty committee, which is expected soon to ask CU president Hank Brown and regents to terminate or reinstate Churchill.

Meanwhile, Churchill has been relieved of duties but remains on the payroll.

Neither Churchill nor his attorney, David Lane, could be reached for comment. But Lane has said that after the last “rubber stamp comes down,” he will file a federal lawsuit alleging CU fired the professor in retaliation for the Sept. 11 comments, which were protected speech. Churchill has said his challenge of orthodoxy made him a target for elimination.

“Attacks nationwide on academics in a variety of disciplines are an attempt to shut down objective information and diverse, particularly dissenting, viewpoints,” said Ken Bonetti of the CU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a colloquium sponsor.

Cheyfitz said he recently defended Churchill to the tenure committee. He said that the CU report has errors and omissions.

“I’ve read it several times,” he told a group of about 100. “What we’ve got here is smoke and mirrors.”

Cheyfitz said the case against Churchill amounted to academic double jeopardy. The university should have reviewed his work before giving him tenure, promotions and raises.

“It’s an attack on tenure too, which is the bulwark of academic freedom,” he said. “This touches many more people than professor Churchill.”

DiStefano said the university was not firing Churchill for his Sept. 11 comments but for “the pattern of research misconduct that occurred over time.”

Associate professor and past director of the Center for Indigenous Nations Studies at the University of Kansas Michael Yellow-Bird said that Churchill is one of the most cited scholars in Indian studies and the attempt to silence him is “colonialism at work.”

CU Students Present Petitions Protesting Attempt to Fire Prof. Churchill

April 11, 2007

University of Colorado at Boulder Students report:

The CU students who have organized to support academic freedom met at the UMC Fountain to rally in support of Ward Churchill. With signs protesting the University’s attack on Ward Churchill due to his unpopular 9-11 comments, we marched to administration offices to discuss with administration our demands. Press arrived with us and filmed the demands as well as the discussion with the liason who then received the petition to CU President Hank Brown with over 400 signatures demanding that Ward retain his position at the University. The liason then pretended our issues would be taken seriously and left.

All in all, it was a great event and a great start to our actions against the administration aT the University of Colorado at Boulder who seek to punish those who exercise their First Amendment Right.

Mobilizations at CU and Nationally Say: CU SHOULD NOT FIRE WARD CHURCHILL

Wednesday April 11, 12:00 p.m., UMC Fountain

Join Students and Faculty for Academic Freedom at the UMC Fountain, University of Colorado at Boulder, to march on Regents, demanding the CU administration stop its political witchhunt.

Thursday April 12, 7:00 p.m., G1B20 Duane Physics, CU-Boulder

Ward Churchill Must Not Be Silenced: Critique of CU’s “Investigative Report”

Featuring:

• Eric Cheyfitz, professor of American Indian Studies, Cornell Univ.
• Michael Yellow Bird (Hidatsa/Arikara), professor of Indigenous Nations Studies, Univ. of Kansas
• Emma Perez, professor of Ethnic Studies, Univ. of Colorado-Boulder

Flyer here.

Audio of Eric Cheyfitz discussing Ward Churchill on KGNU here.

National Emergency Forum to Protect Dissent and Critical Thinking: Why Ward Churchill Must Not Be Fired

Saturday, April 28 ~ 10:00am – 3:30pm
Muenzinger Auditorium EO50

Welcome

• Tom Mayer –- Prof. of Sociology, CU-Boulder 5mins

The Implications for Students and Faculty

• Aaron Smith, Ann-erika White Bird, Dave Staub — CU Students, Students for True Academic Freedom
• Elisa Facio — Assoc. Prof. of Ethnic Studies, CU-Boulder
• Dean Saitta — President of the Faculty Senate and Professor of Anthropology, University of Denver

The Impact on Indigenous Studies, Critiques of Empire

• Chris Mato Nunpa — Assoc. Prof. of Dakota and Indigenous Nations Studies, Southwest Minnesota State Univ.
• Matthew Abraham –- Asst. Prof. of English, DePaul University (Chicago)
• Jennifer Harbury (by video) –- noted attorney, author and activist for human rights reforms in Guatemala and the US

Lunch

• Remarks — Vijay Gupta, Member of CU-AAUP, Prof. of Civil Engineering, CIRES, CU-Boulder

Solidarity Messages with Introduction

• Reggie Dylan, Organizer, National Defend Critical Thinking Initiative

Keynote: “Drawing the National Connections”

• Alan Jones — Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Psychology/Neuroscience, Pitzer College

Followed by a roundtable with forum speakers

• Moderated and with opening remarks by Emma Perez, Assoc. Prof. of Ethnic Studies, CU-Boulder

Support Norman G. Finklestein

Sign a letter of support at The Norman G. Finklestein Solidarity Campaign.

An Open Letter Calling on the University of Colorado to Reverse its Recommendation to Dismiss Professor Ward Churchill

The following ran in The New York Review of Books, April 12, 2007:

The militarist reflex to rely on the war option for post-9/11 security is daily proving itself disastrously dysfunctional, and as its failures become more manifest, those American leaders responsible reaffirm their extremism, relying on a brew of fear, demonization, and global ambition to pacify a nervous, poorly informed, and confused citizenry at home. And where there are expressions of significant, principled opposition, the impulse of the rulers is often repressive. In such a setting it is hardly surprising that academic freedom is menaced, but not less troubling.

The relentless pursuit of and punitive approach of the University of Colorado at Boulder to Professor Ward Churchill is a revealing instance of the ethos that is currently threatening academic freedom.  The voice of the university and intellectual community needs to be heard strongly and unequivocally in defense of dissent and critical thinking. And one concrete expression of such a resolve is to oppose the recommended dismissal of Ward Churchill from his position as a senior tenured faculty member.  Faculty across the country are encouraged to circulate this letter among colleagues; send letters of protest and concern to the new Chancellor (Bud Peterson, Bud.Peterson@colorado.edu) and President (Hank Brown, Officeofthepresident@cu.edu), as well as to the Privilege & Tenure (P&T) Committee (Weldon Lodwick, Chair of the P&T Committee, Weldon.lodwick@cudenver.edu; and in general publicize and mobilize within and beyond the academy in opposition to the attempted dismissal of Churchill.

. . .  (click here to read full text)

Signed by:
Derrick Bell, Visiting Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Juan Cole, University of Michigan
Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Richard Delgado, University Distinguished Professor of Law, and Derrick Bell Fellow, University of Pittsburgh
Richard Falk, Milbank Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University; Visiting Distinguished Professor (since 2002), Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Irene Gendzier, Boston University
Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies; Director – Middle East Institute, Columbia University
Mahmood Mamdani, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and Anthropology, Columbia University
Immanuel Wallerstein, Senior Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Yale University
Howard Zinn, professor emeritus, Boston University