School May Fire Professor for 9/11 Comment

Catherine Tsai, Associated Press

AURORA, Colo. — University of Colorado administrators Thursday took the
first steps toward a possible dismissal of a professor who likened World
Trade Center victims to a notorious Nazi.

Interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano ordered a 30-day review of Ward
Churchill's speeches and writings to determine if the professor
overstepped his boundaries of academic freedom and whether that should
be grounds for dismissal.

Also Thursday, the Board of Regents issued an apology for Churchill's
remarks at a meeting and voted to support the university's review of
Churchill.The raucous meeting drew dozens of protesters who back Churchill; at
least two were arrested for disrupting the meeting and another was led
away in handcuffs.

The regents refused to take public comment at their meeting, prompting
an outcry from some of the 35 students who carried signs reading,
"Protect academic freedom" and "Witch hunt." About a dozen professors
also attended.

"I wish the regents had agreed to take some public comments," said law
professor Barbara Bintliff, chairwoman of the Boulder Faculty Assembly.
"Discussion and debate is what a university is all about."

Gov. Bill Owens issued a written statement saying he deplored the
behavior of some of the students at the meeting, and that their behavior
underscored the "culture of violence" that can be spawned by essays such
as Churchill's.

Owens has called for Churchill's firing.

The furor erupted last month after Churchill was invited to speak at
Hamilton College in upstate New York. Campus officials discovered an
essay and follow-up book by Churchill in which he said the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks were a response to a history of American abuses abroad,
particularly against indigenous peoples.

Among other things, he said those killed in the trade center were
"little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who organized Nazi
plans to exterminate Jews. The college canceled Churchill's appearance,
citing death threats and concerns about security.

University officials have previously condemned Churchill's comments but
defended his right to express them. University President Elizabeth
Hoffman declined to comment Thursday on Churchill's future.

Churchill, whose pickup truck was vandalized with swastikas in front of
his Boulder home sometime late Tuesday, has promised to sue the school
if he is removed.

Earlier Thursday, the state Senate passed a resolution denouncing
Churchill's comments as "evil and inflammatory." The nonbinding
resolution was identical to one passed Wednesday by the House.

Democratic state Sen. Peter Groff cast the lone "no" vote, saying he
disagreed with Churchill but that the resolution provides him with
undeserved attention and attacks free speech.