Ex-Professor Ward Churchill
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Misfit ex-professor Ward Churchill is back in the news again, unfortunately, now that the Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear his case against the University of Colorado for firing him 4 years ago. The below report comes from the Denver Post.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18175567
Churchill sprang into notoriety after 9-11, when he called the victims in the World Trade Center "little Eichmann's". However, it wasn't that that got him fired. The university determined that he had committed plagiarism in some of his writings. That is a big no-no in academia.
Of course, no one really knows how this joker became a professor in the first place. Like singer Wayne Newton, he is pretty much a one-trick pony (Dankeschoen). Anything connected to America and capitalism is bad. This is what Colorado University students were exposed to in Churchill's classes. ("Power to the People and "America sucks").
Of course, Churchill isn't the only misfit professor in academia. In contrast, they pretty much grow like weeds in the humanities, history, political science and especially in these mushrooming Middle Eastern Studies departments. (Thank you, Saudi Arabia.)
The other issue deserving of mention here is tenure. Once these clowns acquire tenure, it is very hard to get rid of them. The other is freedom of speech or academic freedom, which applies liberally to teachers but not so liberally to students who have different points of view.
What Churchill said about the "little Eichmann's" was, indeed, protected by the principle of academic freedom. In other universities, you will find professors who think the Holocaust was a myth, 9-11 was an inside job, and the moon is made of green cheese. These loons are in classrooms as we speak spreading their garbage-or better yet, sitting in their offices doing "research" while graduate assistants with similar ideas actually teach the classes. That is the benefit of being a tenured professor. Many universities would actually prefer you do research and publish "stuff" rather than actually be in the classroom.
None of which I have to worry about. First of all, I am no professor, don't even have a PhD. Tenure? Hardly. I am an adjunct reacher at UC-Irvine, which is a fancy term for part-time teacher. I work on a quarterly contract, which has been renewed for 13 years since I am pretty much a part of the family at the UCI-Ext (not the UCI Administration). I don't carry my beliefs into the classroom, and I actually teach my classes personally. Any research I have done is on my own time and dime. As for free speech, I have to say that UCI has respected my exercise of free speech at campus events like the annual Muslim Student Union's circus and what I say in public or here on Fousesquawk. As any regular reader of this blog knows, I have often criticized UCI, other UC campuses, and the current UC president. I have not been punished in any way.
Ward Churchill was and is an ideologue who brought embarrassment to CU because of what he said and according to the university itself, his plagiarized writings. In my opinion, CU was correct in getting rid of this clown. I hope the Colorado Supreme Court feels likewise.
Like any competent appellate court, the Supreme Court of Colorado is looking at issues that should guide lower courts, not at the integrity of the individual parties. It looks, from the Denver Post article, like the net result for Ward Churchill might be that he gets his $1, but not his job back.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is much doubt that those who dug up the evidence of plagiary were motivated by a desire to get rid of him for his views. But, the motive of a complaining witness is not a defense against hard evidence that one is guilty as charged.
I don't see any reason Ward Churchill should be teaching in a tenured university position either. I have some concern that a way be found to exclude such people from tenure without the gross abuses that inspired the institution of tenure in the first place.
That is hard to do if the university is considered an "academy" to which each "scholar" brings some unique wisdom. First there needs to be some definition of what is worth teaching. That is what teachers are hired to teach. Anything outside of that is an extracurricular speech.
There is hard evidence that the moon is not made of green cheese. There is hard evidence that six million plus people were murdered by the Nazis, most of them Jewish -- although I never saw any good reason for a convent dedicated to Edith Stein to be removed from the vicinity of Auschwitz.
There is no hard evidence that 9/11 was not an "inside job," nor that it was. So, its not a fit subject to teach. One could mention that this controversy exists, and assign students to construct logical arguments supported by factual evidence for or against.
Geerz, Siarlys. Are you looking over my shoulder as I write?
ReplyDeleteI know. You have hacked into my account. Weenergate II.
Plagiarism at a university by a full Professor is a deathblow. One can be a Marxist/Communist (Ayers and Dorhn) and continue to teach. But, plagiarism is a big No-No. Churchill is dust!
ReplyDeleteSquid
You're prolific this week-end Gary. But actually, I just happened to look in, and as I returned from one comment, lo, a new post had appeared.
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