Posted on 02/27/2005 5:35:59 AM PST by prairiebreeze
BOULDER A full-page ad taken out by 200 University of Colorado faculty members calls for the school to drop an inquiry into the writings of professor Ward Churchill.
Gov. Bill Owens and others have called for the firing of Churchill, a tenured professor, because of his comparison of Sept. 11 victims to Nazis.
The faculty members paid for the ad to run Monday in the Boulder Daily Camera.
It says the review of the ethnic studies professor, expected to be completed by the middle of March, should be stopped immediately. The ad says the inquiry is the result of political pressure and not based on "any prior formal complaint of specific professional or academic misconduct on his part."
The 200 faculty members' statement defends Churchill's "right to speak what he believes to be the truth" based on academic freedom rules designed to prevent faculty members from being fired for unpopular views.
In the essay, written immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, Churchill appeared to sympathize with the hijackers. He wrote that some victims were not innocent because of their role in driving U.S. foreign policy.
Under pressure from Owens, the Legislature and the CU Board of Regents, the university began an investigation of Churchill.
CU's Arts & Sciences Council passed a resolution Feb. 10 protesting the investigation, and said administrators should know that faculty members are serious about their opposition to what some consider a witch hunt.
Margaret LeCompte, an education professor, said, "It is going to be extremely difficult, if academic freedom is on the block, for us to hire and keep good faculty members."
LeCompte and the other teachers who signed the ad paid $1,600 to have it published.
"We're all thinking twice about what we're saying," LeCompte said, recalling the climate in the McCarthy era when professors were fired for alleged communist ties.
Expect much bloated rhetoric and hysterical posturing.
Contrast this to the way that fellow from Harvard was treated.
I'm stunned. I guess they don't care that he's copied artwork and attacked a reporter either.
I always knew the rules didn't seem to apply to celebrities and the very wealthy, but didn't think that Churchill fit that category.
Liberals. Typical weenie-herd behavior.
We certainly don't want any disparate treatment, investigate all these leftist loons...
The rest of the faculty must be afraid they will be exposed as frauds as well...
You can sign here. It takes only a minute!
They will be posting a copy of the ad on their website:
The man is a complete fraud and totally discredits your university, but I guess that won't stop communist politicos.
They protest an inquiry????
OK, then, let's try this one.
Almost exactly a year ago the big news out of CU Boulder was Katie Hnida, the only female ever to play for the Univeristy of Colorado's football team. She claimed that she was harassed by her teammates and reported the same to Gary Barnett, the coach, whom she claimed ignored her. Ultimately, she says, she was raped by a teammate.
Coach Barnett was suspended while the University conducted an investigation.
Suppose Ward Churchill had decided to throw in on the side of the coach and attack Ms. Hnida? Let me make up a few non-PC words to stuff into his mouth and we'll speculate on his fellow travellers' reaction to "free speech":
"Women have no place in football. If she was raped, then that c*** had it coming."
How many defenders would Churchill have had among the lefties had he uttered that? I'm betting zero, and rightly so.
He's free to say anything he likes, and the government can't jail him for it. (Yet.) At his age, though, he should realize that there are consequences to be paid if he makes inflammatory comments.
Ward needs to go.
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