An interview with Churchill supporter Ben Whitmer
CU Ethnic studies instructor Benjamin Whitmer, who was involved in Tuesday nights’ incident at ex-Professor Ward Churchill’s unsanctioned class, maintains that there is no truth in the accusations against him.
“Urie is a lying little punk. He’s already changed his story at least once,” Whitmer said in an e-mail sent to the Campus Press late Thursday morning.
On Tuesday evening, Daily Camera reporter Heath Urie entered the classroom where Churchill was teaching after he had been asked to leave the unsanctioned class organized by CU students.
Urie maintains he was simply trying to find out why the Campus Press was the only media allowed to cover the class.
Urie was repeatedly asked to leave the classroom, Whitmer said, and was eventually escorted out by Whitmer and another individual who has so far remained anonymous. Urie then called CUPD and filed a report of the incident.
Whitmer has accused Urie of provoking the incident intentionally.
“His sole reason for barging into that classroom was to provoke a story. It was tabloid journalism at its most transparent,” Whitmer said.
Whitmer firmly believes that since this event was organized by students, he had every right to ask Urie to leave.
“Just because six percent of CU’s operating budget comes from tax-payers absolutely does not give him the right to barge into any meeting he wishes,” Whitmer said. “These classes are organized by the students, and the students have every right to dictate who’s allowed inside.”
Whitmer is also fully prepared to defend his actions, even if it means going to court. As of Wednesday, Whitmer and the other individual who Urie named in his report could potentially face charges of third degree assault or harassment. Both charges are misdemeanor offenses. Possible penalties include community service and probation.
“If charges are filed against either of us, we will happily go to trial. Urie’s a liar, and we’ve got dozens of witnesses who saw him barge into the room after being told repeatedly he couldn’t enter,” Whitmer said.
The university’s policy on the use of university facilities has very clear rules on who can and cannot be allowed to attend private functions. Section five of university policy defines the rules for open meetings:
“Those who qualify to schedule the use of university facilities may set their own policies concerning opening or closing their scheduled activity to the public and news media, and such policies shall be stated at the time of scheduling. If such scheduled activities are closed to the public, they may be open or closed to the news media at the discretion of the sponsoring user.”
According to Whitmer, the syllabus Churchill sent out in advance of the class clearly stated that the class was not a media event.
The Daily Camera released a statement Wednesday afternoon defending Urie’s actions:
“We believe that our reporter, Heath Urie, acted ethically and responsibly while covering Ward Churchill’s class (Tuesday) night. He simply was attempting to ascertain why another news organization, the Campus Press, was allowed to have reporters and a photographer in the class, while all others were excluded. We fully support a journalist’s right to do his job without being physically harmed for asking a simple question.”
Urie has declined to comment on the incident.
Contact Campus Press Reporter Rob Ryan at rryan@colorado.edu
