Professor Ward Churchill will take the University of Colorado to federal court if the “latest round of witch hunting is not stopped promptly,” his lawyer said Tuesday in a fiery letter to CU’s attorney.
David Lane’s seven-page letter set the stage for monetary damages by accusing the university of damaging Churchill’s reputation and preventing him from fulfilling publishing contracts and speaking engagements.
The year-long investigation into accusations of plagiarism and misrepresentation of fact is purely retaliation for Churchill’s essay comparing some Sept. 11, 2001, victims to a Nazi bureaucrat, and is “punishment for his exercise of speech,” the letter said.
CU officials said Tuesday night they had not seen the letter.
“Let the process decide what happens,” university spokesman Barrie Hartman said, declining further comment.
The university’s Standing Committee on Research Misconduct received a report Tuesday from an ad hoc committee of five scholars who pored over Churchill’s work for four months. The Standing Committee is expected to review the report before releasing it to Churchill and the public Tuesday.
Boulder chancellor Phil DiStefano plans to publicly announce a decision on Churchill’s fate around June 8. Churchill could be exonerated, reprimanded or lose his tenured position.
Lane said the investigation has dragged on too long.
“They can finish their committee work, but this latest round needs to stop,” he said. “It’s not going to be the endless Ward Churchill investigation.”
The letter provided new details about the latest accusation against Churchill.
An April 13 letter from the Standing Committee to Churchill spelled out six allegations against Churchill from Ernesto Vigil, an author and activist. Among them are that Churchill wrongly described peasants in El Salvador as Indians and that he confused the name of a village with the name of a river.
“None of the allegations merits inquiry because, even if true, they would not constitute research misconduct,” the letter said.
Lane charged that the university had the Vigil allegations for nearly a year before the chancellor forwarded it to the committee less than a month ago.
The letter also said university regents and administrators have bad-mouthed Churchill in “numerous public statements and press releases.” The statements “fueled the extraordinary publicity” surrounding the case, soliciting more allegations, mostly from people with a “history of personal or political disagreement” with the professor, the letter said.
Churchill and Lane filed a federal lawsuit against CU regents in February 2005, accusing administrators of trying to prevent Churchill from speaking on campus soon after his essay made national headlines. The lawsuit was dropped when CU allowed him to speak, Lane said.
Lane said he also sent a threatening letter to the university last fall after CU denied Churchill’s request for a sabbatical and arts and sciences Dean Todd Gleeson refused to allow Churchill to take a paid leave, suggesting he take unpaid leave. Churchill had taught more courses than required during previous semesters and wanted to “unbank” them and take time off.
CU “backed down” after receiving Lane’s letter and let Churchill take paid time off, Lane said. Churchill, an ethnic studies professor, did not teach this semester and is not scheduled to teach at CU in the fall.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
