Forum will discuss Churchill’s future, academic freedom
An information session and dialogue for CU instructors and other members of the community will meet next week to educate the public about the case of professor Ward Churchill.
The event is 5 p.m. Tuesday in Benson Earth Sciences 180 to promote an exchange of different perspectives and information about Churchill’s case, as well as academic freedom and alternative news resources.
“The Ward Churchill teach-in will offer the opportunity for anyone interested to explore alternative resources to information and statistics that they would not get from popular media sources,” said Kimberly Collins, a senior ethnic studies major and member of Students for Academic Freedom, which is sponsoring the event. “It will help raise awareness about the current situation and clear up any misconceptions regarding the status of the case.”
Churchill is a professor in the ethnic studies department and became the center of controversy in 2005 after scrutinizing 9/11 victims in a 2001 essay. Churchill is currently on administrative leave with pay.
CU spokeswoman Michele McKinney said the Privilege and Tenure Committee concluded hearings on Churchill in January and has 30 business days to present its findings to the administration on whether Churchill should be sanctioned or dismissed.
Churchill’s supporters are confident the committee’s findings will allow him to continue teaching at CU.
“Professor Churchill’s case is important on the one hand because it will set a precedent concerning academic freedom – defining ‘correct’ scholarship,” said Aaron Smith, a senior political science major and member of Students for Academic Freedom. “And on the other hand, it is clearly a politically motivated attack against a widely acclaimed professor who writes against the grain of the status quo.”
According to its Web site, Students for Academic Freedom is a network of national student coalitions with a goal to end the political abuse of the university and restore integrity to the academic mission as a disinterested pursuit of knowledge.
“I hope that anyone involved in the university and affected by university policies will attend because this case could set a precedent that affects not only tenure, but students and other faculty as well,” Collins said. “It is important to act now and get involved in the struggle to secure or ensure academic freedom.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Tim McAvoy at tim.mcavoy@thecampuspress.com.
