Ward Churchill Solidarity Network

Law Professor Derrick Bell, a Founder of Critical Race Theory, Writes:

Dear University of Colorado Regents:

From the start, I have been a staunch defender of Professor Ward Churchill’s constitutionally protected right to speak and have urged University of Colorado officials to dismiss the charges against him. I continue to hold to this position despite the University President Hank Brown’s recommendation to you that Professor Churchill be dismissed. I can imagine the tremendous political and perhaps financial pressures being exerted to get rid of Churchill, but such action will have precisely the opposite effect. I urge you to listen to the lawyers who know the law and not to those motivated by unthinking retaliation and perceived political advantage.

Even a conservative court will find it difficult to ignore that the charges brought against Churchill because of alleged academic failings are spurious and an all too obvious pretext for quite severe punishment because of statements about the 9/11 attacks made out of context to the lengthy study out of which they were made. And whatever the district court’s decision, this case will likely be taken on appeal, perhaps as far as the U.S. Supreme Court. At every step, views will be divided as to whether the University or Churchill are in the right. The controversy will cost you students and faculty that you really want to have. In a competitive market for both the best students and faculty, is this a risk you want to take in order to satisfy the political benefits of dismissing Churchill?

I have been on the faculties of Harvard and NYU for 36 years and was dean of the University of Oregon for five years. I can tell you that dismissals for any cause can shake the confidence of faculty for whom tenure reflects a much desired security for which they have worked for many years. This includes those who supported his dismissal and those who remained silent. You should solicit the views of academic deans about the negative outcome of the University’s governing body dismissing a tenured professor whose published views outraged a substantial number of people.

As I indicated at the outset, I am a supporter of Ward Churchill. His academic output speaks for itself as does the range of students who loved his classes, gained from his writings, and support his retention. And yet here, I call on my long years as a faculty member and a law school dean. The relationship between a university and its tenured faculty is a sensitive one easily bruised by actions that even when they are seen as appropriate, are unsettling and destructive of the calm and order that are the necessary foundations for quality research and writing and effective teaching.

I predict that dismissing the charges against Professor Churchill will cause howls of protest from those outside the University, but will bring quiet sighs of relief from those faculty whose careers and lives are founded on peace and order so necessary to live the life of the mind.

Sincerely,

Derrick Bell
Visiting Professor,
University of New York
School of Law.

Message from Attorney David Lane:

The Regents of the University of Colorado will hold a meeting on July 24, 2007 on the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado regarding the termination of Ward Churchill. The location has yet to be determined however it will commence at 8:00 a.m. It is anticipated by Professor Churchill that this meeting will result in his unlawful termination in retaliation for his First Amendment protected speech. Professor Churchill has requested that the entire meeting be held in public and that public testimony be taken by the Regents. As of now, the Regents plan to meet behind closed doors and will not take public testimony.

CU’s Students and Faculty for True Academic Freedom are calling for community attendance at 8:00 am and 4:00 pm (when the Regents should be voting).

Stay tuned for further developments.

CU Regents Receive Hundreds of Letters from Around the World … Michael Meeropol Weighs In:

TO MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO:

I am a lifelong academic. . . .

Though I am a member of a dissident minority within the Economics Profession, I have hesitated to voice my support for Professor Ward Churchill as his case was being adjudicated. I would have been very quick to condemn a politically motivated firing had it occurred because someone made a speech or delivered a controversial lecture. However, these charges were (I thought) substantive and went to the heart of our profession’s integrity – relating to intellectual honesty.

I have been moved, however, to finally raise my voice in protest after reading the detailed analysis by Professor Tom Mayer of the University’s Sociology Department. To be frank and blunt, the charges against Professor Churchill are bogus and represent a fig-leaf of cover for a politically motivated firing. . . .

What will happen as a result of Professor Churchill’s dismissal will be an increasing uniformity among faculty – with particularly young faculty afraid to truly practice their profession – afraid to truly speak (and write) what is in their hearts and minds. The losers will be your students but in a very real sense, the narrowing of the acceptable scope of dialogue within your university (and others as well – chilled by your behavior) will mean a loss for a nation as a whole. . . .

The republic has much to lose should such voices be silenced.

I urge you sincerely to vote NOT to terminate Professor Churchill. . . .

Sincerely,
Michael A. Meeropol, Ph D
Chair, Department of Economics
Western New England College
Springfield, Massachusetts

Michael and Robert Meeropol are co-authors of We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

click here to read entire letter.

Write the CU Regents: c/o Millie.Cortez@cu.edu

Richard Falk

To the Regents of the University of Colorado:

I write as a concerned member of the university faculty community, having taught for six yeas at Ohio State University, forty years at Princeton University, and the last six years as a visiting professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. I also write as someone who has known Ward Churchill for more than ten years, and had the opportunity to work with him in several professional settings. My message is a fervent request that you reject the recommended dismissal of Professor Churchill, and either reinstate the majority recommendation of the CU faculty appeal panel for a one-year suspension, or more appropriately, decide on the dismissal of charges against Churchill. From the outset of this controversy I have been apalled by the rush to judgment that has characterized this case, and have taken a public stand that any effort to dismiss Professor Churchill from the University of Colorado represents a flagrant denial of academic freedom that would have severe adverse consequence for learning communities across the country.

Having examing the reports and evidence I am convinced beyond reasonable doubt that there exists no basis, aside from bias and outside political pressure, for the dismissal of Professor Churchill on grounds of ‘research misconduct.’ The alleged wrongs over a long, productive scholarly career have not been established to nearly the degree that should warrant disciplinary action, much less dismissal from a tenured position. However the alleged infractions of research standards is evaluated the issues reduce to matters of interpretation,
accident, and some instances of carelessness that is to be expected to be present to some degree in the scholarly work of almost every senior professor.

I regard Professor Churchill’s scholarly work as having made major contributions in ethnic studies and with respect to Native Americans. This assessment is reinforced by Churchill’s worldwide reputation, as well as by the high regard with which he is held by students.

Against this background, I would respectfully request the Board of Regents to consider these charges against Professor Churchill in an objective manner, and to take into account not only issues of fairness in relation to this individual whose future is on the line, but with respect to the sort of university atmosphere that you would like to encourage at the Univerisity of Colorado. Naturally, this case is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity to adhere to principles of justice and to show support for academic freedom when it really matters, that is, when it is under attack due to political and ideological pressures mounted from outside the university.

Sincerely,

Richard Falk
Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Emeritus, Princeton University (since 2002) Visiting Distinguished Professor, Global Studies, University of California at Santa Barbra