Ward Churchill told about three dozen people at the American Association of University Professors’ Academic Freedom Symposium on Saturday afternoon that he had been the victim of a “faculty lynch mob” assembled by the University of Colorado.
“I say lynch mob because the entity that was formed and handpicked, there were people who were methodologically and disciplinarily more qualified to assess the accusations against me (who) were ruled out,” Churchill said.
Churchill spoke for about an hour inside a small conference room at CU on Saturday, the same university from which he was fired in 2007 for academic misconduct and plagiarism in his work.
He started about 45 minutes later than had been advertised and spent that time enjoying slices of pizza and signing copies of his book “Wielding Words Like Weapons: Selected Essays in Indigenism, 1995-2005,” which were for sale at the event.
He declined to be interviewed for this story.
“I’m back here,” he said once he took his place behind a podium at the rear of a small conference room inside the Kittredge complex.
“But I’m back here at what?” he continued. “Being away from Boulder for a period of time has allowed me to reflect on what I came to Boulder in the first place, for. This place is incomprehensible to me.”
The CU Board of Regents fired Churchill in 2007 for academic misconduct associated with plagiarism and fabrication in his work. He successfully sued the university — he was awarded $1 following a trial in Denver District Court — but was not able to get his job back.
Churchill contended on Saturday that his termination was not related to the methodology he used in his research, but the ideology he was espousing, which he said goes against “the master narrative.”
Churchill became a subject of intense local and national controversy in 2005 when he came under heavy criticism for an essay he had written in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, “On the Justice of Roosting Chickens.” In that piece, he described those working in the World Trade Center as “little Eichmanns.”
During Churchill’s lawsuit against CU, his attorney told the press that “When you tell the truth about the master narrative, the master slaps you down. … Basically, white guys in suits write history.”
CU spokesman Ryan Huff said in an email that Churchill’s misgivings against the university are old news.
“We’re not interested in rehashing it,” he said. “We had important reasons for taking the actions we did and we stand by them because they were in the best interests of the university and academic integrity. We strongly value academic freedom.”
Although he spent much of his hour speaking recalling what he felt was unfair treatment by the university, Churchill also warned tenured professors that they only serve at the pleasure of the CU Board of Regents and they can be fired “regardless of your constitutional rights.”
He also encouraged people to seek intellectual endeavors outside the confines of an academic institution.
Colorado Springs resident and Occupy Denver member Eric Verlo said that he came the event to show his support for Churchill but added that it is “too bad” that he has to address academic freedom issues rather than Native American history and United States imperialism.
He said that Churchill was “sidelined” because of his firing from CU.
“I think he is on the defensive. He is essentially a victim of the oppressive environment of the United States educational system,” he said. “This guy is still very highly respected.”
John Bear: 303-473-1355, bearj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/johnbearwithme
