LUCY PEMONI / STAR-BULLETIN Protesters made their opinions known last night outside the entrance of the auditorium where University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill delivered his speech on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus. Posted on 02/23/2005 1:28:51 PM PST by leaning_libertarian
Starbulletin.com
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
"I never wanted to be a poster boy for academic freedom. You can't give an inch. If you let this one down, you've lost it all."
Ward Churchill Visiting University of Colorado professor
LUCY PEMONI / STAR-BULLETIN Protesters made their opinions known last night outside the entrance of the auditorium where University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill delivered his speech on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus.
Churchill attacks essay’s critics University of Colorado president calls for calm
By Craig Gima cgima@starbulletin.com
Ward Churchill, the outspoken Colorado professor who created a national uproar by comparing 9/11 victims to Nazis, told an overflow crowd at the University of Hawaii last night that he is the target of a right-wing strategy to attack academia.
"I was targeted because they thought I would be an easy target," Churchill told the crowd of about 800. "That was a mistake.
"It's not just an attempt to purge me," he said. "It's a purge of the academy."
The crowd was mostly sympathetic to Churchill, a University of Colorado ethnic studies professor. He was applauded more than a dozen times and was greeted at least three times with standing ovations.
Before the speech began, about a dozen members of a UH college Republican group protested.
"I never wanted to be a poster boy for academic freedom," Churchill said. "You can't give an inch. If you let this one down, you've lost it all."
Much of Churchill's speech was devoted to explaining and expanding on his essay written on Sept. 11, 2001, that called 9/11 victims "little Eichmanns."
LUCY PEMONI / STAR-BULLETIN University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill drew about 800 people to his speech at UH-Manoa last night -- plus a dozen protesters like these.
He said the theme of his essay and a later book was that the United States has been involved in violating international law and killing innocents and should not be surprised that some people would want to kill Americans -- the "chickens coming home to roost," as his essay is titled.
He argued that the World Trade Center could be considered a legitimate target because it is a symbol of the financial power that allows the United States to flex its military might.
He said if you read his essay, he called the "technicians" in the World Trade Center "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who actually did not kill any Jews but made it possible for the trains to run on time and for the Holocaust to take place.
It's obvious, Churchill said, that he did not mean to say children, janitors, firefighters and innocent bystanders were part of that group. Instead, he said, he was referring to investment bankers and others who make the killing of innocents by the U.S. military and U.S. policy possible.
Churchill did address the issue of his ethnicity, admitting that he is not Native American.
"Is he an Indian? Do we really care?" he said, quoting those he called his "white Republican" critics.
"Let's cut to the chase; I am not," he said.
His pedigree is "not important," Churchill said: "The issue is the substance of what is said."
He went on to explain that the issue of whether he is Native American has been blown up by sloppy reporting and reporters quoting other reporters.
His speech drew mostly positive reaction from those who attended. But Tyrone Hogenauer said he was disappointed.
"I thought he was going to talk on free speech," Hogenauer said.
Instead, Churchill talked about himself and attacked his critics the way they are attacking him, Hogenauer said: "It's a sad thing."
UH student Kirsten Chong said her professors assigned her to listen to the speech.
"He was humorous and he certainly didn't pull any punches," she said, adding that because she is native Hawaiian, she agrees with much of what he said.
University of Hawaii www.hawaii.edu BACK TO TOP | University leader urges calm in professor decision By Steven K. Paulson Associated Press
DENVER » University of Colorado President Elizabeth Hoffman warned lawmakers yesterday against rushing to punish a professor who likened some Sept. 11, 2001, victims to Nazis, saying a misstep could land the university in court and make the embattled teacher "a very wealthy man at our expense."
Furious lawmakers threatened to take state funding away from the university over an essay by Ward Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, who wrote that some "technocrats" killed in the World Trade Center were like Adolf Eichman, who orchestrated the Nazi holocaust.
Gov. Bill Owens has said Churchill should be fired, but Hoffman told a caucus of Republican legislators that the professor's future has to be handled the right way.
"If we approach this issue wrong, not only will every regent be sued personally, but every administrator will be sued personally and professor Churchill will win his lawsuit with triple damages and be back on the faculty, a very wealthy man at our expense," Hoffman said.
The university has launched a review of Churchill's writings and speeches to see if he overstepped academic freedom and should be dismissed. But Hoffman said public debate about firing him only clouds the issue.
"The more talk there is about the need to fire him, the more difficult it becomes for us to do that, if that's what we decide to do," she said.
Republican Sen. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs, who introduced a resolution last week urging the university to fire Churchill, did not return a message.
Lamborn said he had been meeting with regents to discuss the resolution because he wanted to avoid any "unintended consequences."
Hoffman said the law protects public employees' right to free speech, "no matter how odious it might be."
Some members of the Board of Regents have suggested reviewing the university's policy of granting tenure, essentially a lifelong appointment. Owens has said lawmakers might want to consider setting statewide standards for when tenure is granted, instead of leaving it to universities.
Hoffman told lawmakers that tampering with tenure would be a mistake that could drive away other faculty members and make it difficult to hire new ones.
"They need to know we have not engaged in a witch hunt," Hoffman said. "We're taking a careful and measured approach."
University of Colorado www.colorado.edu/
"They need to know we have not engaged in a witch hunt,..."
Apparently the near-absence of Conservatives on academic faculties is a coincidence, then? If that is true, why were there Conservatives on the faculties propr to the 1960s?
Of course, I know that this is being said in response to the apparent belief on the far left that there is a mass purge underway in Universities everywhere. No doubt this is attested to by the still overwhelmingly liberal faculties present everywhere save for perhaps a group of campuses you can count on one hand.
The sky is falling! Spread the word.
/Sarcasm
Why is that so appalling?
If we only have 500-1,000 people who think this guy is the great prophet of these times, that's very good news. I hope they spent their entire disability checks to buy all his books on sale outside.
Between the Honolulu Advertiser and Star-Bulletin, there must be at least 500 people between them, the state legislature and staff runs another 100-1,000. union bosses and lobbyists another 1,000-5,000, university faculty and staff 10,000, students 20,000, public service employees and teachers 50-100,000, I think one has to be encouraged that the same people saying the same things for the last 40 years are still the same people they've been all their lives. The rest of us learn to avoid them.
What's the problem?
In every community in this country, it's the same core 500-1,000 that can be counted upon to protest anything and everything. They never have a better plan to offer but don't like the idea that somewhere, some time, somebody may be enjoying themselves -- and if they can't experience that possibility for themselves (because of themselves), they want it banned for everyone also.
This relatively small group of people seem a lot larger because theirs are the only letters and commentary your local newspaper is likely to publish -- because they make the regular staff look good by comparison. Anybody who's good, by comparison, would make the regular staff look bad -- and that must never be allowed to happen. So everybody thinks everybody else in their community must be jerks because that's all they see -- which makes the staff at your local newspapers look like geniuses, by comparison.
Surely, you people have figured it out by now.
It's the union thing.
Nobody is allowed to work any faster or better than the next guy -- because it'll make everybody else look bad. So everybody has to work at the pace and the standard of the worst.
Then the company will be forced to hire even more workers to do the same job. If production increases, they won't. So production has to decrease and then they can hire more people. If people do nothing, the sky is the limit.
The teachers unions seem to have that one down cold.
Front page! Congratulations for your stand against a "professor" of garbage.
Sorry, I just noticed I accidentally put 1/4, I'm actually only 1/8 Indian, I really didn't mean to claim more than that which actually constitutes my heritage.
Instead of firing Ward Churchill, couldn't the University of Colorado just cut his pay down to $1/year plus medical/dental coverage? ;)
" "Is he an Indian? Do we really care?" he said, quoting those he called his "white Republican" critics.
"Let's cut to the chase; I am not," he said. "
I'm surprised it took 25 posts to get to the most important part of this column. The guy ADMITS he is a lying poser. Of course, that doesn't taint his others arguments at all, does it?
Since he has dropped out of the Indian race, maybe I'll take his slot. Hey, everyone! I'm an Indian. I can't prove it, but it's the thought that counts. It's your job to prove I'm not.
You'd think someone would have a Cousin Joey out there.
So now we're back to the "it all depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is..."
Lovely.
Anyway, KUDOS LL!!
He lied about his ethnic background.
How do the other minority applicants feel about a German/Swiss whitey getting their affirmative action position? Will the MSM ask? Don't hold your breath.
___________________
"Is he an Indian? Do we really care?" he said, quoting those he called his "white Republican" critics.
"Let's cut to the chase; I am not," he said.
Churchill wants to be a victim...wants to be an Indian...he's neither. He is careful to use code words such as 'purge' and 'target'. He has an exaggerated sense of self.
If we ignore him, he'll go away.
You have a point - except that hopefully it can introduce a new conversation on the importance of seperation of state and education.
Bump for later
No, if we ignore him, he will continue to be paid, and have the academic rank as a full Professor by the University of Colorado. Ward Churchill's continued employment by UC is the equivalent of the Chi Coms' practice of charging the family for the bullet.
That's a diff issue! But sadly, if a state finances such an institution then it can not bow to pressure and censor speech - especially private speech since this asswipe's essay was for a non-state funded paper (where and for who it was written I don't know).
In any case I lived my whole life never hearing about this man now I will remember him for all my life.
I wonder if it was a slow radio talk show day and they brought up this as a way to build controversy and thus ratings? (sorry for the cynicism).
By not ignoring him you make him a rock star for the left and you can't fire him for an essay he wrote in a capacity outside his employment.
"Is he an Indian? Do we really care?" he said, quoting those he called his "white Republican" critics.
"Let's cut to the chase; I am not," he said.
This gives Colorado the opening to fire him for a false application. Presuming, of course, they want to do so.
Put an end to this fraud.
He isn't fired for what he said, it is for fraudently impersonating an American Indian, which is his sole credential for his lofty academic post. His full Professorship ain't for the drivel he writes, nor his Masters from nowhere U.
Mr. Churchill just admitted he committed Fraud
I believe he checked the box on his form regarding affirmative action
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