Salida – Larry Seidel had one thing on his mind Sunday: “Throwing down” in his kayak on some serious Arkansas River white water.
Not even controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, who was speaking just a few hundred yards away, could distract Seidel from the waves rippling on the river.
“Oh, that freakazoid,” Seidel said when told a Churchill essay had called some victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks “little Eichmanns.” “Seriously, I know there’s two sides to every story, and I’m sure he has one.”
Indeed he did.
In his second public appearance in Colorado since the controversy surrounding his essay erupted in January, Churchill spoke to about 200 people at the Salida Steam Plant community center.
Among the topics covered during his 90-minute speech: the attacks on historians espousing unpopular ideas to the mainstream, the corporate intrusion into higher education and the Denver media.
While Churchill found a supportive crowd – which included one noticeable heckler and two policemen – most of Salida was unaware he was in town.
In fact, most residents were more focused on the river, which carried near- record runoff after a recent burst of warm weather. The Arkansas, which flows through the center of town, carried a number of kayakers and many people in canoes.
The Central Colorado Humanists invited Churchill to speak because the controversies that surround him are intertwined with First Amendment issues, which the club has vowed to protect, members said.
While the right to free speech initially guided healthy debates about his 9/11 comments, the controversy quickly strayed in another direction when a bevy of politicians, reporters and CU regents got involved, Churchill told the audience.
That’s when the debate took a nasty turn, Churchill said, and he was accused of plagiarizing colleagues’ work and lying about whether he’s part American Indian.
That scenario has played out over the past 30 years in academic circles, said Churchill, citing several examples of professors who had their work scrutinized by others determined to find fault.
“These are all lefties as defined by those who hold and wield power in the United States,” Churchill said.
Even though he initially said he wouldn’t discuss his “little Eichmanns” statement, Churchill gave in when asked to elaborate by a woman who said she lived near the site of the terrorist attacks in New York.
He reiterated his opinion that the terrorist attacks were an inevitable consequence of U.S. foreign policy.
“And guess what? It didn’t hurt any more in New York City than it did in Baghdad,” he said.
Several members of the audience praised Churchill, saying he has called attention to the issues of free speech and academic freedom.
“We weren’t talking about these issues in Colorado before Ward Churchill,” said Robert Timms, who drove from Colorado Springs. “We knew they were there nationally, but it really took him to shine the light on it.”
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
