Posted on 06/27/2006 6:09:39 PM PDT by neverdem
Chancellor's intent to terminate needs OK of Brown, regents; prof can file appeal
The University of Colorado at Boulder's chancellor notified professor Ward Churchill on Monday that he intends to fire him, capping a 15-month investigation that began in the wake of Churchill's notorious essay comparing victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to a Nazi.
Churchill, who was found to have plagiarized, falsified and fabricated in his research, was relieved of his duties by interim chancellor Phil DiStefano, but he will stay on the CU payroll until the termination is final.
The ethnic-studies professor has 10 days to appeal to the university's privilege and tenure committee for a hearing, a process that could last from a couple of weeks to several months.
CU president Hank Brown and the university's regents must sign off on the firing, but DiStefano's decision was key in the process because he is the head of the Boulder campus.
Churchill will request a hearing before the six-member privilege and tenure committee, but he doesn't expect an outcome in his favor, said his attorney, David Lane.
When the last "rubber stamp comes down" on Churchill's termination, Lane will file a federal lawsuit accusing CU of retaliating against the professor for comments that were protected by the First Amendment, he said.
"They've been looking for a year and a half for enough window dressing so that when they fire him in retaliation for his speech, it will have the appearance of legitimacy," Lane said.
The chancellor said CU painstakingly followed the investigative process and is ready for a legal fight.
"We're certainly prepared to defend ourselves," he said.
CU has dismissed just two other tenured professors for cause, although others have resigned after accusations of misconduct.
DiStefano reviewed reports from two faculty committees that investigated Churchill's work and consulted provost Susan Avery and arts and sciences dean Todd Gleeson, who he said agreed with his decision. The chancellor also met with Churchill and his attorney last week.
DiStefano said he was particularly disturbed by "the pattern of research misconduct that occurred over time."
His announcement came two weeks after a majority of faculty on CU's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct recommended that the university fire Churchill.
In a secret ballot, six committee members recommended dismissal and three recommended suspension without pay. Two of the three recommended a five- year suspension and the third a two-year suspension.
Prior to the standing committee's report, a five-member committee of scholars found that Churchill intentionally falsified his research, plagiarized and ghostwrote articles, which he then cited to bolster his writings.
The university launched an investigation into Churchill's work in March 2005 after receiving complaints about his scholarship - allegations that surfaced after Churchill's essay comparing World Trade Center victims to Adolf Eichmann drew national attention. DiStefano said then that Churchill's incendiary statements about 9/11 victims were constitutionally protected.
The chancellor reiterated Monday that CU was not punishing Churchill for his essay, saying that "controversy is no stranger and opinionated discourse is applauded" at the university.
"Indeed, one of our most cherished principles is academic freedom - the right to pursue and disseminate knowledge without threat of sanction," he said. But, he said, "with freedom comes responsibility."
Still, the chancellor said it was "hard to tell" whether the university would have ever investigated Churchill had it not been for his controversial essay.
Professors were grateful to the chancellor for following the recommendations of two faculty committees, said R.L. Widmann, vice chair of the Boulder Faculty Assembly. The investigation did not concern Churchill's 9/11 essay, which faculty considered polemic, not scholarship.
Widmann said she hoped faculty at other universities would get the message that Churchill is being fired for academic misconduct, not for his unpopular opinions.
"Any faculty who is reasonable" would read the investigative committee's report and realize he had fabricated and plagiarized, she said. "Other faculty thus are not going to fear any diminution of academic freedom," she said.
Gov. Bill Owens, who called on CU to get rid of Churchill soon after his controversial essay came to light, applauded the chancellor's decision to fire him.
"If a university is a marketplace of ideas, then Mr. Churchill is the rotten fruit among hundreds of good apples," Owens said in a statement. "Hopefully, we can soon say good riddance to Ward Churchill once and for all."
DiStefano also defended the ethnic-studies department, saying it was not "responsible for, or deficient, because of the investigation of research misconduct by one of its faculty members."
The standing committee's report urged administrators to help rehabilitate the image of the ethnic-studies department, which has received racist and threatening e-mails and calls during the Churchill investigation.
DiStefano also asked the public not to judge CU by one professor's actions.
DiStefano, who withdrew himself from consideration for the permanent position of chancellor, said he wanted to finish the Churchill case before the new chancellor, Bud Peterson, starts next month. The Churchill scandal broke just three days after DiStefano, former provost, stepped into the chancellor's job.
Churchill did not respond to a request for comment Monday but has said the investigative committee's report read like a warning to other scholars to "lay low."
"Do not challenge orthodoxy," Churchill wrote in his response to the investigative committee. "If you do, expect to be targeted for elimination and understand that the university will not be constrained by its own rules - or the Constitution - in its attempts to silence you."
The standing committee was looking into another round of allegations against Churchill by activist and author Ernesto Vigil but decided recently that those did not merit further investigation, CU spokeswoman Jeannine Malmsbury said.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
So, what's taking so long??
Just do it.
I wouldn't have thunk it.
Churchill's stupid statement certainly got him attention.
Since he knew he was a major plagiarist, he should have been a bit more circumspect. But that doesn't excuse plagiarism.
If they'd found a murdered person in his office, should he have been exempt from prosecution just because he'd drawn attention to himself on his Eichman stupidity?
As they say, "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."
Send in Donald Trump.
The wheels of justice move exceedingly slow, but grind exceedingly fine.
Ha! The commies, neo-Nazis and other assorted lefties thought that it was over and that they'd won. I'm glad that they didn't think again.
In this case, justice moves like constipation.
Cheese-fueled constipation.
Don't forget that ultimately we're talking about a government job that probably has some type of union protection.
How mny other Churchills are out there?
The article says that he probably would not have been investigated had he not made those controversial (9-11) statements.
Ahhh, so you're a 'Root Cause' man...
Real Lefty but Fake Indian, Fake Professor, Fake Artsistry he sold should have been enough to fire his arse.
LOL!
If it were Churchill, he'd claim they were imprisoning him for speeding.
GOOD!
He certainly made sure to draw attention to himself.
Good summation of this sorry affair.
In other news, the mouthy leftist Bush hating bigot and racist "Star" has been fired from the morning gaggle of gals show "The View".
Good riddance. One more to go.
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