[NYTr] Univ Anounces More "Investigation" of Ward Churchill
 
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 11:45:37 -0600 (CST)

 
Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
[The witchhunt continues...]

Reuters - Mar 24, 2005
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=8001383&src=rss/topNews

University of Colorado Probes Claims Against Professor

DENVER (Reuters) - The University of Colorado will investigate 
whether a professor who compared victims of the World Trade Center 
attacks to a Nazi war criminal misrepresented his American-Indian 
heritage and plagiarized the work of other scholars, a school 
official said on Thursday.

University chancellor Phil DiStefano told reporters that results of 
a two-month probe into 100 academic works of ethnic studies 
professor Ward Churchill warranted further review, but not for his 
controversial post-Sept. 11, 2001, writings.

"Professor Churchill's comments and rhetoric -- no matter how 
repugnant I may find them -- are protected by the First Amendment," 
DiStefano said.

Churchill, 57, a longtime fixture in Native American academia, has 
been under fire for an essay in which he called victims of the World 
Trade Center attacks "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf 
Eichmann, the German, World War II-era war criminal.

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, has called for Churchill to 
be dismissed and state lawmakers have passed resolutions denouncing him.

Churchill has refused to apologize for his remarks, saying they were 
deliberately miscast by political enemies and has threatened to sue 
the university if fired.

DiStefano said a committee would probe whether Churchill engaged in 
"research misconduct" by passing himself off as a Native American to 
enhance his credibility in American Indian circles, and whether he 
had unfairly lifted from the work of other scholars.

The nine-member committee, composed of other faculty members, 
administrators and a student, will review Churchill's body of work. 
That review, which could take more than six months, would be the 
first in a process that could lead to the firing of Churchill, a 
tenured professor.

University regents launched a review of his academic record after 
the Sept. 11 controversy erupted. Since then allegations have 
surfaced accusing Churchill of plagiarism.

DiStefano would not comment on reports of settlement talks that 
would offer Churchill an early retirement package to head off a 
lengthy legal battle.

In an essay, "Some People Push Back," written shortly after the 
Sept. 11 attacks, Churchill said the hijackers had mounted 
"counterattacks" in the face of hostile U.S. policy in the Middle East.

) Reuters 2005

       
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