[IPSM] Ward Churchill Update

[samir]

-----Original Message-----
Sent: June 4, 2005 9:38 AM
Subject: Ward Churchill Update

Dear friends and colleagues,

	My apologies for not keeping you updated on a more regular basis
regarding the ongoing efforts to discredit and/or fire Ward Churchill.
Although the national media coverage has abated, the local media
continues to attack Ward relentlessly and much of our energy has been
absorbed into the current phase of the University's "investigation."
There are a number of recent developments:

Status of the "Investigation":

As you know, in response to the political pressure brought on the
University in late January, Interim Chancellor Philip DiStefano formed
an ad hoc committee to examine Ward's "every word," to see if he had
crossed some mythical boundary of free speech.  In late March the ad
hoc committee concluded the obvious - that what Ward had written or
said publicly was all constitutionally protected expression.

In the meantime, however, it was open season in the media, where all
manner of allegations have been thrown about.  At first we attempted
to respond to them, but soon realized that (a) Ward's responses were
not being reported accurately, if at all, and (b) as soon as one round
of spurious allegations was rebutted, another took its place.  It is
an endless game, pursued by forces with apparently endless resources.

Not surprisingly, the University felt it had to take some action
against Ward in retaliation for his political positions, regardless of
the First Amendment and principles of academic freedom.  The Interim
Chancellor's committee thus declared it had an "obligation" to
investigate the allegations which had emerged and referred several of
these to the University's Standing Committee on Research Misconduct
(SCRM).  The SCRM is currently reviewing charges of "academic and
ethnic fraud" (discussed in more detail below) and is scheduled to
make its initial report by June 23.  The SCRM can decide to send any
of these allegations to the Privilege and Tenure Committee for further
investigation and possible punitive action, including dismissal.

Ward has continued to teach, finishing not only the spring semester
but teaching a condensed "Maymester" course as well.  He won a 2005
teaching award, voted on by students, but its sponsor (the alumni
association) is withholding the award "pending the outcome of the
investigation," despite the fact  that the allegations have nothing to
do with teaching.

Illegitimacy of the SCRM's Current Investigation:

On its face, the continuation of this investigation in any form is
unconstitutional, arising as it does from the University's blatant
attempt to suppress Ward's constitutionally protected speech.  The
pretextual nature of the inquiry is further illustrated by the fact
that the current allegations are (a) factually unsupported, (b) all
based on conduct well over a decade old and, in some cases, previously
investigated by the University itself, and (c) come from political
adversaries of extremely questionable credibility (to be charitable).

I take the liberty of quoting recent e-mail correspondence from Noam
Chomsky to a CU employee which I think embodies the response the
University should have made under the circumstances:

************************************   
Without reservations, I support Churchill's right to free speech and
academic freedom, and regard the attack on him as scurrilous-and by
now craven cowardice as well, as the state authorities and other
critics pretend that the issue is (suddenly) his academic credentials
and ethnic origins.  That's a real disgrace.

As for his work, I've never read this article [on 9/11] and have no
interest in doing so-in fact, would not do so as a matter of principle
in the present context, for reasons that go back to the Enlightenment
origins of defense of freedom of speech.  I was interviewed by
Colorado newspapers, and told them basically what I've just written. 
I was then asked what I thought of his earlier work, and told the
truth: that I found it serious and important, stressing again that
these comments have precisely nothing to do with the outrageous events
now underway.

I have no idea what the plagiarism and other issues are, [but] if the
charges were serious, they would have been brought up before.  For
what it's worth, there's no indication of that in anything of his I
read-that is, nothing more than is standard in scholarship. . . . .  
Such matters are sometimes raised in the context of political
persecution, by cowards who are desperately seeking to conceal what
they are really doing.  Seems pretty transparent in this case.  Why
now and not before?

Professor Noam Chomsky, e-mail correspondence of April 13, 2005
*********************************
 
Needless to say, the University has not chosen a principled response
of this sort. Despite the illegitimacy of the current process, Ward
has submitted to the SCRM a detailed response to each allegation.  He
has not yet released these responses publicly, preferring to give the
Committee a chance to consider them before they are tried in the
press.  I have, however, attached an excerpt of Ward's cover letter to
the Committee and some summary responses to the specific allegations.

The Allegations Currently Being Investigated:

	"Ethnic Fraud"	
Most offensive, of course, is the charge that Ward fraudulently
misrepresented his American Indian identity in order to gain
credibility for his scholarly work.  First, it must be noted that in
1994 the same political adversaries (these are the people who also
accuse Ward of being an FBI agent, a CIA operative, etc.) raised the
same issue.  At that time the University determined that Ward had
legitimately self-identified as an American Indian for employment
purposes.

So, the very existence of the current investigation raises interesting
questions - is there a different standard of identity for research and
employment?  If so, what is it?  Who gets to decide?   And if one
isn't informed of the standard to be applied, how could one
fraudulently avoid compliance? The University has refused to answer
these questions, apparently leaving it up to a randomly selected
faculty committee to function as a racial purity board.

Again, the facts which are a matter of public record are being
blatantly ignored.  Ward has identified as American Indian since he
was a small child, based on his family's understanding of its history.
 He has been recognized as such by the Indian community in Denver, as
well as much broader American Indian communities, for decades.  (One
only need view his speech at CU broadcast on C-SPAN to see this.)  And
he is an enrolled associate (not honorary) member of the United
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, a status which requires
confirmation of Cherokee descent by the Band's genealogist.

One of the many disturbing consequences of the University deciding
that it can adjudicate one's "race" has been the toll taken on the
United Keetoowah Band.  Initially they responded accurately to
inquiries - saying that Ward was an associate member -  but were then
bombarded by reporters and subjected to an unrelenting e-mail campaign
of harassment. Eventually they attempted to allay this pressure by
disavowing Ward.  This forced him to counter with evidence of his
enrollment which, in turn, pushed them into changing their position
yet again. (Ward's statement on this question is attached.)  In the
meantime the Band's already meager resources have been diverted,
preempting their delivery of social services and causing turmoil and
division.  Apparently this is acceptable "collateral damage" in the
eyes of those attempting to silence Ward.

	"Academic Fraud"

The SCRM is investigating two sets of "academic fraud" charges.  One
is misleadingly labeled "plagiarism," and I've attached a summary of
Ward's responses on these claims.

The other is allegedly about Ward's interpretation of the U.S. Army's
participation in the spreading of smallpox to Indians and about the
implementation of "blood quantum" requirements pursuant to the 1887
General Allotment Act.  Ward has provided the Committee with plenty of
facts to back up his analysis but it's important to note that this is
at most a dispute over historical interpretation, not fraud.

More significantly, these charges are part of an insidious attempt to
discredit a particular line of criticism of the sanitized version of
American history which is generally taught.  Ward, of course, is one
of the most prolific scholars in this field; if his scholarship can be
discredited, anyone who takes a similar position with respect to the
U.S. government's treatment of American Indians will be vulnerable as
well.

Related Developments

During this process, CU-Boulder's Department of Ethnic Studies has
come under continuous attack.  Our faculty, staff and students have
been subjected to all manner of harassment, much of it explicitly
racist.  We have been targeted by local politicians as well as the
likes of David Horowitz.  Throughout this process, no University
official has stepped forward to condemn the racism directed at the
Department or to provide us with any support.  I've attached an Open
Letter from the Department describing some of this and including a
sampling of the e-mails we have received.

Adrienne Anderson, a CU instructor in environmental studies and ethnic
studies, has been terminated and her classes cancelled because of her
success in exposing the environmentally devastating misconduct of
corporations CU is closely affiliated with.

The City of Longmont has harassed and tried to fire one of its
employees, Glenn Spagnuolo (not coincidentally one of our
co-defendants in the Columbus Day protests), for statements made on a
radio talk show in connection with his support of Ward.

One of our students, Dustin Craun, is being prosecuted for attempting
to read a statement on behalf of CU students at the February 3 "open
meeting" of the CU Board of Regents.  (By way of contrast, other CU
students who recently chained themselves outside the Chancellor's
office to protest sweatshops are not being prosecuted.)

Most significantly, Shareef Aleem, a Denver activist who was forcibly
prevented by the police from speaking at the same Regents meeting is
charged with felony assault and faces a 16-year prison term.  My final
attachment is Shareef's statement on this matter; Ward and I urge you
to actively support Shareef's defense in any way you can.

The Big Picture

As Ward has said from the beginning, this is not about him; rather, he
is the current target of opportunity in a much broader assault on
freedom of political expression and action.  Karl Rove is well known
for his strategy of attacking the enemy's strongest point, not its
weakest, and Ward is a strong one.  If he can be silenced, who won't
be?

In one sense it's part of the larger attempt to discredit all of the
political movements of the 1960s and '70s which directly challenged
the status quo.   Young people who want to be politically active today
are being told that all of those efforts failed; that only approved
and symbolic (i.e., ineffective) forms of protest will be allowed.

It is also part of a pervasive movement to undermine critical thinking
in educational institutions.  Governor Owens and numerous Colorado
legislators are active in Lynne Cheney's American Council of Trustees
and Alumni (ACTA) and in David Horowitz' attempts to stifle "liberal"
professors in the name of students' rights to "academic freedom." 
Academics around the country are being targeted, as evidenced by the
recent "investigations" of Professor Joseph Massad and other Middle
Eastern scholars at Columbia.  As we have examined the purging of
other intellectuals, the same patterns emerge - widespread media
frenzy, endless rounds of unfounded allegations, a process designed to
wear down those who advocate critical perspectives and discredit them
by any means necessary.

The University of Colorado has capitulated to political pressure and
there is no sign that it will not continue to do so.  We cannot take
any comfort in the fact that the University has acknowledged that Ward
Churchill's speech is constitutionally protected.  It is, in fact, far
more dangerous to allow dissent to be silenced through the subterfuge
of investigating various "frauds."  The pressure continues; those who
fueling the attacks, such as our local Clear Channel radio station,
seem to have unlimited resources to spend on this campaign.  So, we
fully expect to face yet another "investigation" after the current
allegations have been refuted -- at which point you'll likely be
getting updates about our federal lawsuit.

The good news is that we have had amazing support at CU, in the Denver
community, and around the country.  Despite well-organized rightwing
campaigns, Ward's e-mail has consistently been more supportive than
not.  Our students and the Ethnic Studies Department have remained
strong despite all of the attempts to divide us.  Tens of thousands of
people have signed petitions of support, thousands have written
letters, and numerous organizations of academics have denounced CU's
investigation of Ward.  Despite nothing but negative media spin,
everywhere we go there is evidence of strong grassroots support, from
security personnel to parking lot attendants, waiters, and random
people on the street.  As a Delta skycap told me last week, "you don't
have to be clairvoyant to see through the bullsh*t."

Again, thank you for your interest and support.  If you have any
questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact
me.

Natsu Taylor Saito
June 3, 2005



Attachments:
1.	Excerpts from Ward Churchill cover letter to Standing Committee
on
Research Misconduct.
2.	Ward Churchill Response to Statement of the United Keetoowah
Band.
3.	Ward Churchill Statement on allegations of "Academic Fraud"
4.	Open Letter from Department of Ethnic Studies
5.	Statement of Shareef Aleem
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