CU chancellor passes the buck (Ward Churchill)

Denver Post ^ | March 25, 2005 | David Harsanyi

[aynrandy]

At this rate, it'll have to be a retroactive decision.

By the time CU fires Ward Churchill, Colorado's infamous professor will have retired with a dozen additional tomes on American imperialism under his belt.

"My Life in Nazi America: How to live on a $95K and still be oppressed."

That's if CU ever fires him. Which seems highly unlikely.

But wherever you fall on this issue, you have to hand it to the university. Who knew academics were this adept at politics? They must be churning out media consultants by the hundreds.

For a lesson, students needed only to watch a somber CU-Boulder interim chancellor Phil DiStefano in action Thursday. Clearing the table of a multitude of serious charges - art theft, advocating violence, threatening others with actual violence - DiStefano made everyone's job a whole lot easier by passing the buck.

Now, the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct - the faculty, in essence - will investigate two charges.

First issue: Is Ward Churchill really an Indian?

Native American activist Russell Means says Churchill is an Indian in his heart. OK. Scottish or Cherokee, Churchill is still an embarrassment and unfit to teach and shouldn't collect a penny in tax money.

Moreover, the ethnicity issue is a dead end. The disagreeable task of ethnic identification, other than illustrating the inherent absurdity of affirmative action, is almost impossible to prove. And CU knows it.

Then we have the more meaty fraud charges. As a prolific producer of half-truths, half-baked fictions and full-blown invective, Churchill provides plenty to read.

But can we count on the faculty to give him a fair hearing?

No one is questioning the standing committee's integrity or professionalism. It's just that in their own self-interest, academics have a considerably different criterion for what constitutes a dismissible offense.

It seems that many academics believe that professors, once tenured, deserve mega-freedoms: zero accountability and absolute job security.

A perfect example of this was exhibited by DiStefano - who himself has a serious conflict of interest as one of Churchill's biggest boosters - when he consistently declared Thursday that Churchill's detestable speech was protected under the First Amendment. Of course it is.

But it's also entirely irrelevant.

No one is arguing that Churchill's right to be outlandish should be taken away. He can head to the state Capitol and preach about "little Eichmanns" all day long.

The last time I looked, Congress hadn't passed a law, nor had the CIA dragged him off to Guantanamo Bay.

But the most striking and skillful dodge by the chancellor came when he answered a question regarding the numerous instances of hate speech and advocation of violence.

The chancellor maintains that was outside the school's review. But this is totally erroneous, demonstrated in detail by CU's very own report.

The preliminary review investigated numerous speeches and interviews that were given by Churchill outside of the university, including one in Satya magazine, in which Churchill said he wants "the state gone."

If the university could investigate that case, why not others?

Shouldn't we know what Churchill meant when he said, "Killing the colonizer is a figurative proposition, it is a literal proposition, but either way, and by all available means, the proposition has to be fulfilled."

"Literal": adj. Being in accordance with, conforming to, or upholding the exact or primary meaning of a word or words.

That should be enough to fire him. Even if there are legal ramifications.

Because guess what? There are moral ones also.

Columnist David Harsanyi can be reached at 303-820-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com .

[river rat]

This is a total Lose/Lose proposition.

CU loses, no matter how they handle this asshole, by the mere fact he was granted Tenure at THEIR university..

Campbell loses, since he will never be safe OFF CAMPUS, and will very likely either starve to death or be beat to death...

Semper Fi

[Ruth A.]

Campbell is set up on easy street between speaking engagements and any books he may produce from this.
To say that his ethnicity cannot be traced is so bogus.