Genociding Ward Churchill for over a 20th of a century

CNews 30June06

The strange saga of Ward Churchill, Identity Thief, is a story that is part and parcel of the 'counterculture' movement of the late 60s/early 70s, a time when Churchill, born in 1947, was coming of age. He is very much a product of his times.

I confess to being old enough to remember that era and to have been at ground zero, on college campuses, during the 70s. There were many 'little Ward Churchills' then, young men (and women too) of leftist leanings and 'native American' pretensions. It was the early days of 'identity politics' on campus, with a 'Black Students' Union' on most campuses, and usually an 'American Indian' or 'Native American' student association. On my campus(es) (I attended two colleges during the 70s) there were a number of hangers-on who desperately wanted to be 'Native American' who dressed in beads and feathers and turquoise jewelry, and who claimed some nebulous Indian ancestry. Most often their ancestry was said to be 'Cherokee' and almost 100% of the time, that Cherokee blood was from a 'full-blood Cherokee' great-grandmother. Almost 100% of the time, the claimant looked to be purely European by descent, and had no specifics on their 'Native' ancestry except for family legend. Now, being charitable, maybe a few of these people did possess genuine Indian ancestry, or at least honestly believed they did. Some, however, appeared mostly to be rather sad young people who were obsessed with the idealized 'noble savage' a la Rousseau, and who rejected their whitebread American ancestry; after all, whitey was the bad guy in the prevailing leftist worldview. Whitey was an oppressor and a ravager of Mother Earth and a bloodthirsty conqueror, while the gentle 'Native American' was a paragon of leftist virtue. What leftist would not prefer to disavow their white ancestry in favor of the idealized Indian image? Ward Churchill may have been one of those who believed in his putative Indian ancestry, or he may be a charlatan who seized on the Indian persona as a way of self-promotion. Only he really knows, at this point, and he ain't telling. He seems determined to brazen it out, and he seems incapable of honesty on the issue, in my opinion.

His belligerent statements of defiance never really refute the charges (of plagiarism, for example) which have been laid against him. Instead he seems merely to accuse his accusers, and to proclaim his own self-righteous victimhood. Right out of the leftist playbook.

Just days before University President Lawrence H. Summers steps down after losing the confidence of professors, Oracle CEO Lawrence J. Ellison announced that he has lost trust in Harvard University and will not carry through on a pledge made one year ago to donate $115 million dollars [sic] to create an institute to study global health initiatives.

The donation would have been the largest in Harvard's history, but Ellison said Tuesday that with Summers gone, he has lost faith in the University to properly administer the funds.

"The reason I didn't finish my gift to Harvard was because of the way Larry Summers suddenly left Harvard. I lost confidence that that money would be well spent," Ellison said, according to the Daily Telegraph of Britain.

CNews 29June06

From our 'The Company You Keep' department: La Voz de Aztlan, the separatist organization that wants the US to "give back" most of the US southwest, and more importantly (from our standpoint), claimed last year to have DNA proof that Ward Churchill had Indian blood, also hosts a copy of The Protocols of Zion. The organization prefaces it with some weaselly words:

There is much controversy over the legitimacy of the "Protocols" published below. Please do not take them as the TRUTH, but verify for yourself if they correspond to actual reality.

In the spirit of fairness, we are providing the following two links that refute the legitimacy of the "Protocols". The links were provided by a peace activist who will be traveling to Palestine to serve as a human shield between the IDF and civilians. She convinced us that it would serve the cause of justice to also provide sources that refute the protocols.

We ask that you read the "Protocols" and determine for yourselves whether they are legitimate or not. We ask that you study them carefully in order to be educated and informed. Do political and economic events around the world conform to what the "Protocols" set out to do? You judge for yourselves. We ask that you keep an open mind about this document and to please not abuse what it states against anyone.

CNews 28June06

Ward Churchill spoke to the AP today; no mention in the article of "his statement" over on his favorite blog. We're not going to quote him since it's nothing new.

We missed it in all the folderol yesterday, but as part of the dismissal notice, Ward Churchill has been relieved of all his teaching and research duties, leaving us to wonder: What research?

CNews 27June06

A careful reader points out that the syndicated story making the rounds on all the major media sites (it's titled "School moves to fire professor in 9/11 controversy") attributes Churchill as applying his "little eichmanns" epithet to "some" of the 9/11 victims, rather than all—which our longtime readers will recognize as a canard.

From our 'Don't Hold Your Breath, Professor' department:
Grant Crowell provides a downloadable video of Professor Thomas Klocek recounting the events surrounding his dismissal from DePaul University, which concludes with Klocek asking Ward Churchill to make a public statement regarding Klocek's case.

...and for the counterpoint, Grant Crowell provides a downloadable video of a representative of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), explaining why they wanted Klocek fired. By the way: the CAIR rep, Christina Abraham, is also a law student at DePaul.

The hills are alive with the sound of...editorials

Denver Post: The long goodbye at CU
Excerpt:

We think Churchill should have quit CU of his own volition after his disguise as a scholar was shredded by two very thorough peer reviews of his shoddy research and academic work. But that would have taken a dose of intestinal fortitude Churchill apparently lacks.

After hiring, promoting and for many years lionizing an academic fraud, the University of Colorado decided Monday to fire him, having been left with no choice after 18 months of blistering controversy and ghastly revelations regarding his scholarly misconduct.

From an article in today's Daily Camera, we learn an interesting factoid:

About 40 faculty members nationwide are fired every year, said Jonathan Knight, spokesman for the American Association of University Professors. The ensuing legal battles can last several years.

CNews 26June06

I have carefully reviewed the Report of the Investigative Committee, Professor Churchill’s responses to the Committee, and the Recommendations of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct. I have met with and obtained the separate input of Provost Susan Avery and Todd Gleeson, the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. I met with Professor Churchill and his attorney, David Lane. After conducting the due diligence I felt was necessary, I have come to a decision regarding the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct pertaining to Professor Ward Churchill. Today, I issued to Professor Churchill a notice of intent to dismiss him from his faculty position at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

[...L]et me briefly explain the process as we go forward. Professor Churchill may request within 10 days to have President Brown or me forward this recommendation to the Faculty Senate Committee on Privilege and Tenure. If Professor Churchill does so, a special panel will then conduct hearings about this matter and make a recommendation to the president about whether the grounds for dismissal are supported.

CNews 24June06

According to this website (and this one), Ward Churchill will be the keynote speaker at the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Radical Bookfair in Baltimore, Maryland, July 1.

CNews 23June06

We've been suspicious that word-of-mouth has been passing for "oral tradition" ever since Jodi Rave used it to attack Ward Churchill's, ahem, scholarship. We were, in fact, working on an essay concerning it—and then that damned Drunkablog had to go and steal our thunder (and did a damned fine job of it, too, the bastard).

CNews 22June06

Marathon Pundit has links and commentary concerning a new petition supporting the reinstatement of Professor Thomas Klocek, who was recently dismissed from his post at DePaul University with what can only be called unCUlike dispatch. (via McKreck over at the Occidentality blog)

...and courtesy of Grant Crowell (with Professor Klocek's permission), we have an email Professor Klocek sent two weeks ago to Professor Churchill:

Professor Churchill:

I have not met you personally but believe that you are committed to the cause of academic freedom and freedom of speech. My name is Thomas Klocek, and I have taught at DePaul's School for New Learning for 14 years with an unblemished record there. On September 15, 2004, I attended a Student Activities Fair sponsored by the University and engaged some students in a conversation about the situation in the Middle East. There was no shouting nor shoving, no obscene gestures, no throwing of papers by anyone. I did not identify myself as a faculty member until on of the students asked if I had any connection to the University. I left peacefully. Nine days late I was suspended with pay from the School by the Dean. I was never presented any formal charges, never allowed to face my accusers. The Faculty Handbook does not make clear what remedy an adjunct would have, so I declined to go before the Academic Council.

The School initially agreed to rehire me provided I agree to "monitoring" in the classroom for my "behavior." Although I considered this odious, I reluctantly accepted this because of my worsening financial position. Then the Dean informed me that this would not be enough. I would have to apologize to the students. I felt no need to do this in light of the fact that I do not believe I have done any wrong here.  The only disagreement the students and I have is in our positions on the Middle East.  This is a matter of opinion which ought to be debatable at a university worthy of the name.

Professor, as you continue your speaking engagements, I would ask you to help those of us who do not enjoy the forum you do in our common quest for free speech and academic freedom. The free and unfettered discussion of ideas, no matter how controversial or unpopular, lies at the very heart of a university. Your own experience and career are a very good example of the need to be vigilant in these areas.
Respectfully,

Thomas E. Klocek
(Former) Adjunct, DePaul University

CNews 20June06

When I first saw this Churchill statement on the Mickey Z blog site, my initial reaction was that it was beautifully constructed poetry. Ward Churchill, the gentle poet, that was a new concept. As I read and re-read it over and over, I came to the conclusion that it is one of the most powerful pleas for peace and justice in literature.

Jodi Rave wonders why Churchill avoided oral tradition of the Mandans themselves when attributing the Mandan smallpox epidemic to the US government (we wonder... In a hundred years, how much of Churchill's fabulism will be "oral tradition"—or to be more succinct, "something everybody knows"?).

From our archives, "Be Careful What You Wish For" department
Excerpt:

We want Churchill unrepentant; we want him defiant; we want him drawn self-righteously up to his full height and full of bile and bombast. Churchill is, after all, the last gunslinger of the intellectual Left, the very ideal of every faculty-lounge activist's hero-worship. You want an example of "the banality of evil"? Churchill's ongoing tenure at CU while the Regents work to fire him affords us endless occasion to hold him up to the light of righteous ridicule for the truly banal little Goebbels he is. It permits us the rare luxury of saying "There! There it is! See it now for what it is—without the cloak of confusion or misdirection or misunderstanding—there is the end product and greatest achievement of the Academic Left.

Drunkablog takes a Denver PI attorney -slash- Rocky Mountain News columnist to task for opining amateurishly on the legality of a Churchill firing

CNews 19June06

What? Ward Churchill is interviewed on KGNU this morning, and we didn't alert you? For shame! Well, better late than never—here's a link to download the show he was on.... his interview starts at 36:20. (if you have an iPod, you can listen to the stream here). He's interviewed, by the way, by the Denver Post's David Harsanyi David Barsamian (sorry, we misheard the name). One more thing: The interview inexplicably cuts off mid-sentence at 1:02:08—but that's okay, we suppose, since it's really a reprise of the "illegal/illegitimate SCRM process" song Churchill's been singing for the past couple of months (although the first caller asked Churchill to comment on his rumored "emotional/social problems", a question he rightly dismissed).

CNews 17June06

Churchill apparently didn't care that when they revealed his co-opted identity and sloppy (even unethical) research methods, that it was ethnic studies programs that would take the real hit. Of course, Churchill may be taking a few hits as well, but he seems to enjoy his "I'm-a-bad-boy-leader-of-the-oppressed-world" identity. The real tragedy is that Ward Churchill has done an incalculable amount of harm to ethnic studies programs in order to promote himself.

CNews 16June06

None of us is really surprised to find that Ward Churchill has many comrades working alongside him in the academic cloisters. If you pay any attention to the History or Sociology sections of Barnes and Noble, or have a kid in college, you can’t help but be aware of the prevailing academic fashions.

But what is surprising about the report is the scope of the problem, the sheer breathtaking extent of the penetration of the Little Churchills into every corner of what used to be known as the Liberal Arts. The smelly little orthodoxies are everywhere, spreading a thick blanket of ideological smog over our college campuses.

Vince Carroll over at the Rocky Mountain News gets hep (second item) to what PB has known all along
Excerpt:

Unlike the vast majority of CU professors, those in ethnic studies actually know Churchill. He was even the department chair when the controversy broke. They're familiar with his behavior, with the controversies surrounding his scholarship and, at least in some cases surely, with Churchill's academic work.

So did any of them come forward during the past 18 months to confirm (or even hint) that, yes, their colleague was an insufferable fraud? Quite the contrary. In several cases they publicly rallied to his defense. If their department is bruised by the Churchill fallout, the wounds would seem to be largely self-inflicted.

CNews 15June06

CU Boulder Faculty Assembly Chair Jerry Hauser issues a statement regarding the Churchill investigation

Et tu, Denver Post? 'Churchill should step down'

Our apologies to readers who were unable to reach us since yesterday afternoon. A lengthy power outage took our servers down, and we were unable to get into the office until this morning to reboot.

CNews 14June06

"Professor Churchill has consistently failed to respond to critiques of his work—whether they occurred in the form of published essays, the Inquiry subcommittee’s questions, or the Investigative Committee’s questions and report—with any acknowledgement that his practices violate standard norms. We are drawn to the irresistible conclusion that Professor Churchill is unable, or at least unwilling, to acknowledge legitimate critique. If he is unwilling to acknowledge the critiques, we are pessimistic that he is likely to change his behavior."

CNews 13June06

The Standing Committee on Research Misconduct at the University of Colorado at Boulder has accepted the conclusions of the Investigative Committee that Professor Ward Churchill has committed serious, repeated, and deliberate research misconduct. After reviewing the Investigative Committee’s report and Professor Churchill’s response, the Standing Committee is recommending to the University’s Provost and Dean of Arts and Sciences a set of corrective, disciplinary, and policy changes.

With regard to corrective actions, the Standing Committee is recommending that publishers of the articles, chapters, and books in which falsification, fabrication, or plagiarism were found be informed of the Investigative Committee report. Although there may be no opportunity to publish errata or corrections in most cases, the Standing Committee hopes that the publishers takes appropriate steps to respond to the Investigative Committee’s findings.

The Standing Committee did not reach, or seek, consensus with regard to disciplinary actions. Six of the voting members recommended dismissal from the University. Three members recommended suspension without pay; two of these recommended suspension for five years and one recommended suspension for two years.

The Standing Committee also made three key policy recommendations, based on information uncovered in this investigation. One recommendation was aimed at ensuring campus-wide compliance with existing policies and procedures regarding academic standards. A second made similar recommendations with regard to consistency of hiring and promotion practices. The third recommendation called for support by campus administrators for members of the campus community who have been negatively affected by the investigation, and for the key principles of academic freedom and academic integrity.

"Baloney. That's my one-word-response," he said. "The basic situation here is there was a call ... for my termination clear back last February, whether or not it was legal. They're willing to take the heat and go to court if necessary and stand behind an illegitimate investigation."

The recommendation from the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct will now be sent to interim provost Susan Avery and Todd Gleeson, dean of the college of arts and sciences.

Avery and Gleeson then will make separate recommendations to interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano, who will have the final say on whether Churchill should be fired.

An exact timeline for that decision has not been determined, but could come within weeks.

UPDATE: The RMN link above no longer works; here's a newer article that covers pretty much the same info:

The vote marks the first time CU's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct has found a colleague guilty since the panel was created 17 years ago.

It also increases the likelihood that Churchill will be fired.

Interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano, who has the final say on Churchill's fate, is expected to announce his decision in the next few weeks.

He'll first consult with Provost Susan Avery and arts and sciences Dean Todd Gleeson, who received copies of the panel's 20-page report Tuesday.

Neither Churchill nor his lawyer are holding their breath, attorney David Lane said.

...and, of course, Churchill publishes his full response on his favorite scholarly website
Here's an excerpt, straight from Bizarro World:

This process has not demonstrated that I engaged in any serious research misconduct but that, after more than a year of painstaking review, those charged with firing me could find nothing more than a few footnotes and questions of attribution to quibble over.

CNews 12June06

The conclusion one must draw from such examples isn't that every institution has its bad apples but rather that, at least in the liberal arts in America, moral turpitude and political hucksterism pervades higher education. Radical criminals with questionable academic credentials flourish in a milieu that bristles with hostility toward real scholars who don't toe the party line—witness the case of former Harvard President Lawrence Summers.

Individuals with prison records or FBI rap sheets don't get into major educational institutions because they fudge their resumes. They get in because they share the political dogmas of those who hire them—and they flourish for the same reason.

What The Professors ultimately reveals isn't a list of instructors that students can avoid, but a corrupt, politicized system that has contempt for the very idea of liberal education.

CNews 11June06

Christine Gordon, a CU sophomore who is studying psychology, said she won't make a character judgment about Churchill because she's never met him or taken any of his courses.

She does have a fashion tip for him, though.

Gordon is among a dozen or so students who are members of an online club, "People Who Want Ward Churchill to Take the Sunglasses Off." The group is on Facebook.com, a social-networking Web site for college students.

Churchill often is seen wearing black sunglasses around campus. He's also sporting shades in a black-and-white photo displayed on an awards wall in Norlin Library.

That's where Gordon said she first noticed the sunglasses.

"Ward Churchill sticks out because he has these big, dark sunglasses on," she said. "He's the only one in the photos wearing sunglasses."

CNews 10June06

Being at the point of losing their philosophical mentor, Colorado's Leftist professors (is that redundant?) have finally resorted to flinging real crap (okay, so they stuck it in an envelope and slipped it through the mailslot). (via Instapundit)

From our Strange Bedfellows Department: According to the SnowStar Institute of Religion's website, Ward Churchill is an invited speaker at the organization's annual conference July 14th at the Kempenfelt Conference Centre, Barrie, Ontario, Canada. SnowStar bills itself as "neutral territory, a safe haven, where seekers and followers of all faith traditions can come together to respectfully and courageously examine, research, honour and celebrate the historical and progressive theologies of their own religions and those of others."

CNews 9June06

CU sociology professor: Investigative committee's report contains "not one shred of evidence[...]"
Note that the author, Tom Mayer, has a bit of back-story (last item) concerning Churchill

The American Association of University Professors attacks the more conservative American Council of Trustees and Alumni with an intrinsically skewed survey (48% democrat vs. 30% republican, for starters) and a near-Churchillian disregard for its own evidence. We'd fisk it ourselves, but an Inside Higher Education commenter, Theodore J. Eismeier, Professor of Government at Hamilton College, has already done it for us.
Excerpt:

Mr. Bowen’s criticisms of the ACTA report would be more effective if he were less procrustean in his use of survey data. When it suits his purpose, Bowen combines respondents who are “very confident” and “somewhat confident” in higher education. Yet when it comes to the possible problem of bias in the classroom, we read only about respondents who found the problem “very serious.” Bowen also asserts that it is mainly conservatives who find the problem very serious. Yet differences across the ideological spectrum are relatively modest, with 34.4% of liberals, 31.1 % of moderates, and 45.5% of conservatives regarding classroom bias as a very serious problem.

CNews 8June06

After the standing committee finishes its report, the university's provost and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will make separate recommendations to interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano.

DiStefano then will make a final decision on a punishment for Churchill, which could range from a warning to termination. DiStefano's decision could come within two weeks, university officials said.

[...]

The standing committee has launched a separate inquiry into an allegation that a 1997 book of Churchill's included misrepresentations of genocide in El Salvador.

"If he were to be terminated or if he was suspended that would become moot," [university spokesman Barrie] Hartman said.

The standing committee met all day Monday, Hartman said, but discussed issues unrelated to the Churchill case. Hartman said he could not elaborate on meeting details because they are confidential.

CNews 7June06

If you're in the Denver area, you may want to tune-in Thursday at 6pm to Boulder's public radio station, KGNU, when CU professors Martin Walter (Mathematics) and Frank Beer (Political Science) discuss the Ward Churchill controversy (special bonus: it's a call-in show).

CNews 5June06

Instead of accepting the fact that things are seldom as simple as they can be made to seem, or embracing the fact that most things exist in the gray zone, not in a morally crisp black and white universe, Churchill prefers to write a kind of comic book version of history. It is a caricature that does disservice to the majority of white people who lived and worked in the American West, and disservice to American Indians, whom Churchill dehumanizes by portraying as victimized saints, always wronged, never wrongdoing.

CNews 2June06

According to this LiveJournal blog, there's a rumor that Ward Churchill plans to visit Nicaragua and Cuba this summer. If true, how nice.

Mildly OT: Looks like DePaul University may get spanked for its political correctness
...meanwhile, Marathon Pundit has an eye-witness account of the professor-students altercation that started all this

CNews 1June06

Drunkablog is experiencing mounting horror at the Churchill debate over on the Rocky's blog