In my last post on Ward Churchill, I wrote:
If Churchill did deliberately misrepresent the work of other scholars, his academic status should be reconsidered.
I would like to modify my stance. I’ve had some time to look into the matter more closely, and I find myself in agreement with the ACLU of Colorado which says:
The Regents should take care that the Chancellor’s investigation of Mr. Churchill’s competence is not a fishing expedition to find something — anything — to use as an excuse to fire him. If that happens, their action will be subjected to a high level of scrutiny to determine if it is really a guise to fire him for the content of his writing.
Similarly, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education says:
We would further like to emphasize that accusations of unrelated wrongdoing should not be used as excuses to justify punishment of the professor for his political expression.
These are important points.
