After all the pressure to rush to judgment, the University of Colorado has rightly given professor Ward Chur- chill his due process, and a group of his peers has found he plagiarized, fabricated and falsified material during his years in academia.
It’d be bad enough if these were slapdash mistakes, but to the contrary, the Churchill committee found his “misconduct was deliberate and not a matter of an occasional careless error.” There was “serious deviation from accepted practices” in university research, and the panel found that Churchill did not comply with established standards regarding author credit on publications.
The results of such a painstaking examination serve to amplify the course we urged many months ago:
Ward Churchill should quit his position at CU, the sooner the better, and spare the university any theatrics over his dismissal. His lack of academic integrity makes him unfit for tenure in Boulder, or on any campus, for that matter.
It’s not their decision, but three of the five members of the panel concluded that there was enough evidence for CU to revoke his tenure and fire him, though two of them said a five-year suspension was more appropriate. Churchill will have a chance to respond to the report, and a decision won’t be made by CU for at least another month.
Sentiment to fire Churchill flared 17 months ago when his malodorous post-Sept. 11 essay comparing victims of the terrorist attacks to “little Eichmanns” first surfaced. Once in the spotlight, he sought to inflame rather than educate. His remarks condoning attacks on U.S. military officers are an example.
Agree with him or not, Churchill’s right to speak out is protected by the First Amendment and academic traditions. The committee was unhappy that its formation was prompted by Churchill’s unpopular speech – indeed, the very first paragraph of the 120-page report notes the panel’s concern “regarding the timing and, perhaps, the motives for the University’s decision to initiate these charges at this time.”
Be that as it may, without the furor caused by his comments about Sept. 11, CU wouldn’t have learned of Churchill’s academic misconduct. How his transgressions came to light don’t diminish their gravity.
In the wake of this saga, CU should tighten its procedures for awarding tenure and put some teeth into its post-tenure reviews. CU should have known that Churchill didn’t meet university standards long before the committee was empaneled.
Churchill will continue to diminish CU until he takes off his disguise as a scholar. There’s no time like the present.
