Ward Churchill to teach unsanctioned course on CU campus

University distancing itself for student-organized lecture series

Brittany Anas, Daily Camera

Published September 28, 2007 at midnight

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Fired University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill will return to the Boulder campus next week to begin teaching an unsanctioned course that's being organized by his student supporters.

University officials have distanced themselves from the planned lecture series — slated to begin Tuesday night — and say that Churchill remains terminated.

The students organizing Churchill's teachings say the series is intended for those who "missed out" on his years as an American Indian studies professor and as head of the ethnic studies department at CU.

Neither Churchill nor his student backers could be reached for comment Thursday.

"He's a professor, he likes to teach people — so that's what he's doing," said David Lane, Churchill's attorney, who was unaware of his client's planned lecture series.

CU officials released a statement Thursday afternoon emphasizing that any students who attend Churchill's discussions will not receive credit and the lectures aren't endorsed by the university or considered to be sanctioned academic coursework.

"Any CU student is at liberty to invite Ward Churchill to campus to speak, but this should not be viewed by anyone as a resumption of employment or of his former professorial role at the University of Colorado at Boulder," campus officials said in the statement.

According to details posted on several Churchill-tracking blogs, the former professor's free lecture series — expected to run this fall and next spring — begins with a session from 6:30 to 9:15 p.m. Tuesday in Humanities room 1B80. Syllabi will be handed out to students along with a schedule of class times and locations.

Churchill's supporters can hold the classes on campus because the university allows student groups to reserve classrooms when they are not in use.

Timeline of Churchill controversy

Sept. 11, 2001: University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill writes a response "from his gut" to the day's terrorist attacks, saying they were not senseless but a direct result of American policies. The online essay compares victims at the World Trade Center to an infamous Nazi technocrat.

Jan. 26, 2005: The essay catches media attention for the first time after students at Hamilton College in New York protest their school's invitation to have Churchill speak.

Feb. 3, 2005: CU regents launch an investigation into Churchill's work to determine if he should be fired.

May 16, 2006: The investigative panel releases its 124-page report to the public. The group finds serious and recurring problems with Churchill's work, including plagiarism, fabrication and questionable citations. Most panel members say Churchill should be suspended without pay, and one member says his research misconduct was so egregious that he should be fired.

June 13, 2006: The Standing Committee on Research Misconduct backs the previous panel's findings of deliberate misconduct and releases its own report. Six of the nine members say Churchill should be dismissed. Two favor suspension without pay for five years, and one recommends suspension without pay for two years.

May 2007: Three members of the university faculty's Privilege and Tenure Committee recommend suspension. The other two members say he should be fired.

May 25, 2007: CU President Hank Brown recommends in a report to the regents that Churchill be fired.

July 24, 2007: Regents vote 8-1 to fire Churchill.

In July, CU regents voted 8-1 to fire Churchill because of academic-misconduct violations. Churchill has not been allowed to hold official classes on the campus since May 2006, when the university stripped him of his teaching, research and service duties after a panel of scholars found patterns of deliberate academic-misconduct violations, including plagiarism and fabrication.

Churchill has filed a lawsuit against the school saying his controversial speech motivated his dismissal. The professor ignited a national furor in 2005 when his essay on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks called some victims "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out Hitler's plan to exterminate Europe's Jews during World War II.

Churchill supporter Ken Bonetti, an adviser at CU, said he's interested in attending the student-organized classes and said there is a need to have Churchill's teachings on the campus.

"There needs to be diverse opinions at the university, and it's important to have a voice like this, whether or not one agrees with him," Bonetti said. "I certainly appreciate a variety of opinions and approaches that were available."

Bonetti said he supports the students' organization of the classes.

"Students have a right to reserve rooms," he said. "I certainly hope the university doesn't try to stop them. That would be a travesty."

Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie contributed to this report.

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