As a settlement with Ward Churchill looked less likely, the University of Colorado's acting Boulder chancellor announced Monday that a review of the tenured professor's work would be released March 28.
The Board of Regents had considered a settlement that would pay the ethnic studies professor to retire amid the furor over his essay likening some Sept. 11 victims to the Nazi who organized the Holocaust. Last week's publicity about allegations that Churchill plagiarized work by Dalhousie University professor Fay G. Cohen in Nova Scotia apparently derailed the talks.
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Churchill has denied the plagiarism allegations. His attorney, David Lane, said CU halted the talks last week.
Regent Michael Carrigan said, while anything is possible, a settlement "is less likely by the day."
Six of the nine CU regents had been willing to approve a settlement for Churchill of less than $500,000 late last week, The Denver Post reported in Monday editions.
"It seemed early on when we started in this process that when the only issue seemed to be the essay that he wrote in 2001, a very painful essay and hurtful, and it seemed to me at that time, why don't we just get him off the campus and be done with it?" regent Pat Hayes said to The Associated Press.
She changed her mind, however, as questions arose about the way Churchill was granted tenure and the plagiarism allegations surfaced.
"There are other issues that we need to consider and it seems almost every day or every other day there's a new issue that comes to light. It's more extensive than we originally thought," Hayes said.
She said the regents likely would read the report by acting Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano during next week's board meeting, a week before he plans to make it public.
The review by DiStefano and two deans started after Churchill's essay, written immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, was publicized in January by the student newspaper at a New York state college. That college and others canceled appearances by Churchill because of the essay.
Gov. Bill Owens called for Churchill's firing and the Legislature approved resolutions denouncing Churchill's comments.
Some lawmakers want to overhaul tenure, which makes it difficult to fire professors who have undergone years of academic review except for blatant misconduct. The idea is to protect professors from political reprisals.
If DiStefano concludes there is reason to fire Churchill, the Faculty Senate could be called on to hear an appeal. The faculty's recommendation would go to the chancellor or CU president and then the regents, who have the final say.
Churchill has said he would fight any effort to fire him. He said Monday that he had not heard anything from the university.
Barbara Bintliff, a law professor and head of the Boulder Faculty Assembly, said any settlement should include a clear explanation of the issues investigated and the conclusions.
"It would be unacceptable to most faculty to offer a settlement if there was credible evidence of academic misconduct. It would tarnish all of us and we would want those issues resolved," Bintliff said.
She added that the debate has underscored the need for better procedures when such issues arise. Faculty members throughout CU's four-campus system plan to better educate themselves and the public about tenure and academic freedom.
What a pathetic example of bureaucratic dithering they set for those unfortunate enough to be captive in the so-called Institution of Higher Learning known as CU.
Good Lord. This Churchill guy is getting WAY TOO MUCH PRESS. On top of that, you maroons who continue to post Ward Churchill crap on FR keep getting my hopes up because when I see 'Churchill' posted on FR I expect to read an article about Winston Churchill, not this gossip-crap that gets posted on FR from time to time.
They found he was a Leftist Activist and thus was given a pass.
bttt
These spineless wimps are going to have to grow a backbone and fire the lying criminal thug sooner or later. They'd love this to just go away, but I don't think it will, after all the problems CU has had.
The head of the faculty assembly seems to be thowing Ghurchill under the bus. The delay of the release of the report and this comment does not bode well for Churchill.