September 2007
DENVER, Colorado (AP) — The president of the University of Colorado has
recommended that a professor who likened some September 11 victims to a Nazi
should be fired, according to the professor and the school.
Ward Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, has denied the
allegations and threatened a lawsuit if he is dismissed.
CU President Hank Brown made the recommendation in a 10-page letter sent to the
chair of the committee that handles tenure issues. University spokeswoman
Michele McKinney confirmed published reports about the recommendation Monday but
said the school would not make the letter public.
The university’s governing Board of Regents would have the final say on whether
Churchill is fired or disciplined. It could be several weeks before the case
ends up in its hands; the tenure panel must review it first.
Churchill touched off a firestorm with an essay likening some victims in the
World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust.
University officials concluded he could not be fired for his comments because
they were protected by the First Amendment, but they launched an investigation
into allegations that he fabricated or falsified his research and plagiarized.
The interim chancellor of the university’s Boulder campus and another faculty
committee have also recommended Churchill be fired. At Churchill’s request, the
Privilege and Tenure Committee also reviewed the case and recommended a one-year
suspension without pay and a demotion.
Churchill said Monday the university process was biased against him and that he
believes he will get a fairer hearing in the courts.
“I’ve got more faith in almost anything (than in the university process),” he
said. “A random group of homeless people under a bridge would be far more
intellectually sound and principled than anything I’ve encountered at the
university so far.”
Associated Press, May 29, 2007.
Help us maintain freedom in teaching, research and scholarship by joining SAFS or making a donation.
