Posted on 03/14/2005 8:10:38 AM PST by freespirited
A report from a three-person committee investigating the scholarship of University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill is not expected as scheduled today and could be pushed back as much as two weeks, university sources said Sunday night.
The delay raises the possibility of restarting negotiations to buy out Churchill's contract, this time using private rather than university funds, say sources close to the university.
"There is the exploration of a private donor - if we settle at all - so there wouldn't be any tax dollars involved at all," said one source close to negotiations.
Churchill's attorney, David Lane, said Sunday he has not heard from the university.
"I would never try and guess what politicians are going to do," said Lane. "This has nothing to do with fairness and justice. It's about public relations for the university.
"They'd better get used to signing Ward Churchill's paycheck."
Six of the nine members of the Board of Regents were willing to approve a settlement of less than $500,000 late last week until allegations of plagiarism came to light from Dalhousie University of Nova Scotia, representing professor Fay G. Cohen.
Churchill characterized the allegations as a copyright dispute that occurred 13 years ago involving a collection of works on Native Americans he helped assemble.
Once the plagiarism allegation was publicized Friday, negotiations ceased.
Regents are now unanimously opposed to a settlement, said one regent.
"I never wanted to settle in the first place. I always wanted to see it through the process," Regent Peter Steinhauer said.
"I oppose any settlement with professor Churchill, regardless of its terms," Regent Cindy Carlisle said.
"This position preceded recent press accounts," she said. "My concern is that a buyout could injure the great principles of due process and academic freedom at stake in this dispute.
"The way both to respect professor Churchill's rights and to maintain the integrity of the university beyond reproach is to let the process go forward without intervention by the board."
Regents are under political pressure not to pay for a settlement. Former state Sen. John Andrews says he will orchestrate a recall election if that occurs.
Regents said Sunday they are not swayed by that threat.
Still, private funding of a buyout of Churchill's contract could be accomplished without regents' approval. A group composed of several friends of the university has offered to help pay for a settlement to rid the university of the inflammatory professor and the nationally publicized controversy.
"There are several people willing to settle this without state funding," said one source. "But it's not near enough" money.
But those funds could be coupled with money from the CU Foundation, the private fundraising arm of the university.
"I think the university should explore all its options to resolve this," said Michael Byram, president of the foundation. "I think it would depend on the amount and the terms. We would approach donors who would be open to it."
He would not confirm whether he had been approached by the university for private funding.
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com.
You aren't kidding. This says a lot about CU's admin. None of it good. Chruchill appears to be the least of their problems.
Give him a dollar and a kick in the a--. Sorry bass turd deserves no less.
boy oh boy is CU between a rock and a hard place
they've already figured out they had better not be using public funds to buy out this creep, first wise move they've made
if they get private donors to pay off Churchill, it is going to piss off other private donors, I am sure the whole affair has already pissed a number of generous alumni, money should go to the betterment of the school not this fraud, though yes indeed the sooner the fraud goes the better for CU
and excuse me, by what legal rationale could CU raid from a charitable foundation to buy out this creep? I'd bet my bippy that buying out an academic fraud is not within the parameters of the foundation.......
why doesn't CU complete its investigation on all of Mr. Churchill's academic indiscretions before there is any talk of a buy out because if they have cause to fire him, they owe him nothing.......
oh and that issue with the Canadian professor is just a "little copyright matter"?
yeah right, all plagiarism is a "little copyright matter"
any true academic [and aye's there the rub] should know the rules of academic sourcing and crediting like the back of their hand, I do and I've been out of university for decades...I was the Queen of footnoting and biblographies...lol
nice little white man's lie there Wardie, or should i say little Eichman white lie......
we won't even mention the physical threat to the professor who blew the whistle on him
CU can turn their situation around by firing Churchill. If they pay him off, CU will be reviled for a long time to come.
hee hee
yes, perhasp some wampum or Monopoly money, how about counterfeit money for a counterfeit academic, LOL
LOL
Churchill's attorney said THIS! At the very least, this guy is NOT good at public relations.
Ya know, if you ask me (and no one did), the clock should just about be run out on Ward Churchill's 15 minutes of fame.
I'm getting awfully tired of hearing about this creep!
The total absurdity of this whole event is sickening. I wonder if he had committed murder, would they still be confused at what to do....where is their ceiling of morality and ethics? I hope America sees this as yet another chapter at what liberalism is.
bwahahahahaha integrity? maintain? beyond reproach??? Way too late, way too late. 15 years too late.
One thing is emerging, that is they are going to get rid of Churchill, one way or another.
Unbelievable how hard they are trying to cater to this SOB.
Fire his @ss!
Regents said Sunday they are not swayed by that threat.
LOL yeah like I believe that one..
Fire him, sue him, prosecute him, his whole career seems to be one big fraud...what is so difficult about that decision? Academic Freedom doesn't mean you can scream about one thing then the rest of your fraudulent life is off limits...
Have any Indian groups come out against him yet?
I haven't heard anything
Expending an awful lot of energy on easing this guy out when a 'see ya' out to do it.
Only demented liberals would come up with the idea of rewarding a man who has faked his resume', faked his ancestory, faked his career and faked ALL of them out in the process. The least they could do is pay him with fake money.
I have said that I will toss any resume with CU on it in that comes across my desk the wastebasket until they get this resolved. Is this how they give out their degrees?
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