July 24, 2007
Dear University of Colorado alumnus,
The Board of Regents today voted to accept my recommendation to dismiss Professor Ward Churchill from the faculty of the Boulder campus. I made the recommendation for the good of the University of Colorado.
CU’s success depends on its reputation for academic integrity. A public research university such as ours requires public faith that our faculty’s professional activities and search for truth are conducted according to the high standards of the profession and the university. Maintaining our academic reputation is a key facet of the university’s accountability.
We are accountable to those who have a stake in the university: the people of Colorado who provide us $200 million annually in tax dollars, the federal entities that provide some $640 million annually in research funding, the donors who gave us more than $130 million this year to enhance academic quality, the faculty members who expect their colleagues to act with integrity, and the students who trust that faculty who teach them meet high university and professional standards.
We are also accountable to the alumni who expect that the value of their degree will remain high and that the reputation of their alma mater will remain intact. The ultimate measure of our success is our alumni and what they do with their CU education. We have the obligation to you to ensure that you can be proud of the University of Colorado.
To help ensure that accountability, we cannot abide academic misconduct. More than 20 faculty members (from CU and other universities) on three separate panels conducted a thorough review of Professor Churchill’s work and unanimously agreed that the evidence showed he engaged in research misconduct, which required serious sanction. The record of the case his faculty peers developed shows a pattern of serious, repeated and deliberate research misconduct that fell below the minimum standard of professional integrity, including fabrication, falsification, improper citation and plagiarism.
Some on the Boulder campus and beyond claim Professor Churchill was singled out because of public condemnation of his writing about September 11, 2001. They see his case as a referendum on academic freedom. The university determined early in the process that his speech was not at issue, but that his research was. The prohibition against research misconduct extends to all faculty members, regardless of their political views. It would be a mistake to exempt faculty members from being accountable for the integrity of their research because their views are controversial.
CU is committed to academic freedom, which protects the exploration and teaching of unpopular, even controversial ideas. But that pursuit must be accompanied by the high standards of the academic profession.
CU’s most important asset is its academic reputation. Professor Churchill’s actions reflect poorly on the University of Colorado, but we will not let the research misconduct of one individual tarnish our reputation. Our faculty members take pride in their work and demonstrate a high level of professionalism. It is the work they do daily in classrooms and research laboratories that is the foundation for the strong reputation CU has built over 131 years. And it is the work they will continue to do that will allow generations of CU alumni to take pride in this great institution.
Sincerely,
Hank Brown
President
