Reporter stands by his actions
Ethnic Studies instructor Benjamin Whitmer, who was involved in a classroom incident on Oct. 2 at the unsanctioned class being taught by ex-Professor Ward Churchill, maintains that there is no truth in the accusations against him.
On Oct. 2, Daily Camera reporter Heath Urie entered the classroom where Churchill was teaching his unsanctioned class organized by CU students. According to Churchill, Urie was repeatedly asked to leave the classroom and eventually was escorted out by Whitmer and another individual. Urie then called CUPD and filed a report of the incident.
“Urie can claim whatever he wants,” Whitmer said in an e-mail sent to the Campus Press on Oct. 4.
While Urie has declined to comment on specifics of the story, he does believe that the investigation by CUPD will vindicate him.
“The police report is the accurate version of what happened,” Urie said.
Furthermore, Urie denies that he meant to cause a scene with his actions.
“I don’t think that any of us want to become the subject of our own stories,” Urie said.
Whitmer said he firmly believes that since the class is run by students, he had every right to ask Urie to leave.
“These classes are organized by the students, and the students have every right to dictate who’s allowed inside,” Whitmer said.
Churchill, who was just beginning to lecture at the time, said that when Urie entered the room, Whitmer put a hand up to stop him and Urie ran into Whitmer’s hand.
“He was agitated, loud and disruptive, maybe even threatening,” Churchill said.
Churchill does not believe that what Whitmer and the other individual did constitutes assault, but he did suggest that Urie’s actions could be construed as trespassing and intrusion. He agreed that Urie had the right to ask to be admitted, but believes that Urie had no right to enter the room after being asked to leave.
“I’m here as a volunteer, I have a prerogative to say who I want to talk to,” Churchill said.
Churchill stands by his colleague and is prepared to defend him if the issue eventually goes to court. At the beginning of class on Oct. 9, he posed the following question to his students:
“Is anyone here so afraid of the judicial system that they will not be a witness if this case goes to trial?” No one in the classroom said they wouldn’t defend Whitmer.
The investigation into Urie’s report is still ongoing. According to CUPD Detective Brian Jordan, in a story reported on Oct. 3 by The Campus Press, Whitmer and the other individual Urie identified in his report could potentially face charges of 3rd degree assault and harassment. Jordan believes that Whitmer’s account of what happened is not very realistic.
“This is a pretty extreme perspective,” Jordan said in the story, referring to Whitmer’s comments he posted on his blog.
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 V of that 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.”
Contact Campus Press Reporter Rob Ryan at rryan@colorado.edu
