Denver Post: Termination, suspension possible for Churchill; Governor calls for controversial professor to resign
University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill plagiarized, fabricated and falsified material and was disrespectful of American Indian traditions in his writings, a report released today said.
Three of the five scholars who examined the ethnic studies professor’s work for four months believe Churchill’s academic misconduct is serious enough that CU could fire him from his tenured job, the report said.
But two of those three said the most appropriate sanction would be to suspend him without pay for five years.
The other two committee members did not believe Churchill’s research misconduct was serious enough to warrant termination. They suggested the university suspend him without pay for two years.
“Churchill has tarnished the title of professor and his future at C.U. is appropriately in question,” said Gov. Bill Owens in a statement, after the panel’s findings were announced.
“Unfortunately, as the lengthy process continues, the prolonged presence of Ward Churchill at C.U. besmirches the reputation of a fine university and its many outstanding teachers. Confronted with the committee’s findings of falsification, fabrication and plagiarism, Churchill should resign,” Owens said.
Boulder interim chancellor Phil DiStefano plans to announce a decision on Churchill’s fate next month.
The committee investigated seven allegations against Churchill, including concerns about his writings about Indian law and a smallpox epidemic at Fort Clark.
The committee found that Churchill’s “misconduct was deliberate and not a matter of an occasional careless error.”
It found “serious deviation from accepted practices” in university research and that Churchill did not comply with established standards regarding author credit on publications.
The five-member ad hoc committee was formed by CU’s Standing Committee on Research Misconduct, which determined in September there was enough evidence against Churchill for a full-blown investigation.
The Standing Committee rejected two of the nine original allegations forwarded by the chancellor. The dropped charges concerned copyright infringement and whether Churchill misrepresented himself as an Indian.
The Standing Committee now is looking into recent allegations against Churchill from activist and author Ernesto Vigil.
Committee members have not announced whether Vigil’s six accusations – among them that Churchill wrongly described peasants in El Salvador as Indians and that he got the wrong name of a village – merit an in-depth probe.
Churchill’s attorney, David Lane, warned in a seven-page letter to CU last week that he would take the university to federal court if it did not end the “latest round of witch hunting.”
Lane accused CU of dragging the 15-month investigation on too long, drawing accusations from anyone with a personal or political vendetta against the professor. He said CU should drop Vigil’s claims.
The investigation into Churchill’s work began because of controversy over his essay comparing some Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center victims to Nazi bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann who managed plans to exterminate European Jews. The essay surfaced in the public eye in January 2005.
University administrators determined free-speech rights prevented Churchill from being punished for the essay, but regents voted in February 2005 to review Churchill’s work.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
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