Today a Denver judge dismissed Ward Churchill’s case against the University of Colorado Board of Regents and ruled that it would be inappropriate to return him to the faculty.
While legal maneuvers in this case may continue, I believe this to be an appropriate ruling that upholds our standards of academic integrity and honesty in scholarship—the same standards to which we hold our students.
From the beginning we have said this is not a case about free speech. Indeed our faculty and students engage in free speech daily in the classroom and in their academic work. For CU, this was always about the integrity of scholarship. Academic honesty is at the heart of education and the advancement of knowledge, and every university is built on it. There is honor in protecting it.
While this case has had a high-profile presence, I am proud that it did not distract us from our goals and mission. Over the past two years alone, CU-Boulder has set campus records for fundraising, sponsored research revenues, enrollment, and diversity enrollment.
With the help of communities across Colorado we built and are installing a new strategic plan, Flagship 2030, to transform CU-Boulder for education and service in the 21st century. And since this case first came to light in 2005, we have prepared and graduated 35,000 young adults for a life of career and contribution—our greatest accomplishment of all.
I want to thank each of you for your support during this trying period for the university. We are looking forward to continuing the work that defines a great flagship university.
Sincerely,
Philip P. DiStefano, Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder
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We’re both CU alums & we are probably in the minority, but we feel that Ward Churchill wasn’t treated fairly. We agree that he always doesn’t present himself in the most professional way, but he does represent the Native American voice & I think CU have disrespected their history. We think you should pay his legal fees & give him a small cash settlement just to show some respect to some of his work in Native American studies. We don’t think he should be reinstated though as he doesn’t have a PhD & it’s best for the university to move on. Gov. Owens & Bush/Cheney set such a negative confrontational style & we think CU didn’t handle themselves in the most professional way either during that time.
Thank You,
The Pucketts
Perhaps the best way CU could have showed respect for Native Americans was to hire one, instead of Churchill. Investigation by both Denver newspapers found “”no evidence of a single Indian ancestor”. Tribal chief George Wickliffe stated Churchill’s claims to Keetowah United Band membership “are deemed fraudulent by the United Keetoowah Band,” and furthermore Churchill “could not prove any Cherokee ancestry.”