Eugene, Ore. – The University of Oregon has canceled an appearance by controversial University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill at a conference on race and immigration, saying the furor surrounding his remarks on the 2001 terrorist attacks would be a distraction.
Churchill, an ethnic studies professor at CU who compared some of the World Trade Center victims to Nazi bureaucrats, was scheduled to appear on April 1.
Oregon canceled his appearance more than two weeks ago, shortly after his planned appearance at New York’s Hamilton College pushed him into the national spotlight.
Hamilton officials canceled his appearance after receiving threats of violence. Oregon’s decision was at least the fourth engagement struck from Churchill’s calendar.
Margaret Hallock, director of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, said that having Churchill on campus would shift the focus of the conference away from its intended subject.
“We felt that we had developed a very good and scholarly conference, and we wanted to proceed with it and that the best thing would be to not have his part of the keynote lunch,” Hallock said.
Churchill’s comments provoked a firestorm. Colorado Gov. Bill Owens called for his ouster and the University of Colorado is investigating whether the tenured professor can be fired.
Churchill said he won’t resign and will sue if the university attempts to fire him.
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CHURCHILL CONTROVERSY
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