 A University of Colorado investigative committee found deliberate and serious misconduct by ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill, including plagiarism, fabrication, and "serious deviation from accepted practices in reporting results from research," according to a report made public today. The committee also noted Churchill was "disrespectful of Indian oral traditions" when he wrote the U.S. government distributed blankets infested with smallpox to Mandan Indians in 1837 on the Upper Missouri River.
| Did they say anything about the fact that he's a pretend Indian? |
Three of the five members of the committee said the transgressions were serious enough that CU could revoke ChurchillÂ’s tenure and fire him.
| That's a majority, but I'm sure that doesn't count... |
But two of those three said the most appropriate sanction would be a five-year suspension without pay. The other two committee members said they were "troubled by the circumstances under which these allegations have been made," and "believe his dismissal would have an adverse effect on other scholarsÂ’ ability to conduct their research."
| I'm not sure how firing him for plagiarizing other people's work, making up his facts, and pretending to be an Indian would have an adverse effect on academic research, except on those researchers who use the same methods. |
Those two recommended that Churchill be suspended without pay for two years.
| At which point he could resume plagiarizing and making up facts. I think it's becoming trendy to pretend to be a Mexican now, though. |
The committee also said it was concerned about the timing and motives of the investigation, which was launched amid public outcry over and essay Churchill wrote about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The university knew Churchill was a "controversial public intellectual" when he was given tenure in 1991, the committee said in the report.
| Controversial public intellectuals apparently deserve a pass when it comes to swiping other people's work, and they're allowed to pretend to be anything they want. The concern over the timing is a method of distracting attention from the charges and casting some sort of blame on the people who were bitching about his shoddy methods and purposes. |
Last year, as the Churchill inquiry gathered momentum, Joseph Rosse, chairman of the standing committee on research misconduct, explained why the allegations had to be taken seriously. "Research misconduct is one of the most serious allegations that can be brought against a faculty member," Rosse said, "because it strikes at the very heart of integrity and public trust so crucial to the mission of a university."
| Much of that public trust has been burned away by "researchers" like Churchill. |
The five-member investigative committee was chaired by CU law Professor Mimi Wesson. It also included two other CU faculty members, history professor Marjorie McIntosh and sociology professor Michael Radelet, as well as José Limón, professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, and Robert N. Clinton, professor of law at Arizona State University. |