Ward Churchill ‘Indicted,’ His Lawyer Claims Victory
Well, okay, Ward Churchill hasn’t really been indicted. Indictments in the non-academic world mean something. But seven of nine charges against the embattled University of Colorado professor were referred this week to the CU faculty “Standing Committee on Research Misconduct,” which will now presumably stand and deliberate for another five months or so before the Churchill can of worms gets slowly kicked on down the disciplinary road.
According to the Rocky Mountain News, our ever-vigilant source for all things Churchill, his lawyer, David Lane, said, “This is really a victory for Professor Churchill.”
To some readers, that assessment might sound like just another bit of mouthpiece manure, but it really isn’t. Every day that Churchill is not fired and continues to draw his $94,000 annual salary is a victory for him. Every day CU looks dumber and dumber in the handling of the fiasco is a victory not only for Churchill, but for those of us who generally view university disciplinary procedures as due process deranged.
Lawyer Lane has read the subcommittee report that inches the “investigation” forward. We haven’t. It is secret until some fine upstanding confidential source leaks it to the News, by next Tuesday if we’re lucky. But Lane claims that in reviewing the charges of plagiarism, fabrication and research misconduct against Churchill the subcommittee demurred, saying, “Look, this isn’t our area. We’re biochemists and physicists.”
If that is an accurate description, then at least three questions are begged: First, why are biochemists and physicists reviewing evidence that is beyond their intellectual capacity? Second, can biochemists and physicists not read? Third, when biochemists and physicists are called to jury duty in the real world, are they excused because murder and rape and fraud aren’t their areas?
We acknowledge what may be an obsessive fascination with the Churchill/CU academic tragicomedy. “Monty Python” reruns are just becoming ever so boring.
To read CFIF’s prior coverage of the University of Colorado and its infamous ethnic studies professor, browse: