Who testified
Jurors heard from university professors and the woman who succeeded Ward Churchill as head of CU’s ethnic studies department, called to the stand by Churchill’s attorney.
What they said
Each testified that Churchill’s firing was either unwarranted by the evidence against him, or unfair. Testimony again focused partly on Churchill’s published claim that the U.S. Army distributed smallpox-laced blankets to American Indians, killing 400,000, a number that is not found directly in other historic research but Churchill cited from a book by Russell Thornton. That anthropology professor never used that large number.
“They are saying he misused and misrepresented Thornton,” testified David Stannard, a professor of American studies at the University of Hawaii. “He didn’t. He used his citation and counted the numbers in his citation.”
Churchill’s successor, Emma Perez, said she believed the charges against him were “fabricated” and said his firing led to faculty outrage. CU’s attorney countered that only 10 of 1,000 faculty members signed a letter of protest.
“Yes, very disappointing, isn’t it?” Perez said.
Coming today
The Churchill watch continues at the Denver courthouse, though the timing of his testimony remains unknown. His attorneys are expected to call to the stand another member of the panel that investigated Churchill’s work, as well as experts on Indian history and culture.
