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Churchill 'Still Here' As Controversy Simmers

By Dan Elliott, Associated Press Writer

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ― A year after he was engulfed in controversy for comparing some of the World Trade Center victims to a Nazi, University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill is relaxed but defiant, claiming progress if not outright victory in his battle to keep his job and make his voice heard.

"They took their best shot," Churchill said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I'm still here."

One of his most vocal critics also sees reason for hope, with universities taking a harder look at hiring and tenure practices.

"Ward Churchill is kind of the 9/11 for universities. ... The wake-up call," said David Horowitz, a champion of conservative causes who accuses Colorado and other schools of stacking their faculty with leftists.

Until last year, Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, wasn't well known outside academic circles. But in January 2005, an essay he wrote shortly after the 2001 attacks provoked indignant objections at Hamilton College in upstate New York, where he had been invited to speak.

In the essay, Churchill called some of the dead "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, an organizer of the Holocaust. Churchill later said he was referring to "technocrats" who participate in what he calls repressive American policies around the world.

Gov. Bill Owens and university administrators were outraged, but the school concluded Churchill couldn't be fired for the comments because of free speech protections. The university subsequently launched an investigation into allegations of plagiarism and other research misconduct that could lead to his dismissal, though Churchill has promised to sue if that happens.

CU spokeswoman Pauline Hale did not return a call seeking comment.

Dressed in jeans and leaning back in his chair, Churchill said his critics have only toughened his determination to stay on.

"I might have retired shortly of my own volition, but I certainly won't under these circumstances," he said. "They're keeping me around."

Churchill is preparing to take a year off to write, including a book about press coverage of his case. He said the public is beginning to pay attention to his argument that Americans, and not just their leaders, are responsible for the country's actions in the world.

"I've punched holes in the idea of innocence, surely," he said.

Churchill contends the investigation into his work is at least partly a reaction to his research challenging conventional views of history, and that he is finding more evidence to support the disputed findings. He believes the investigation and the clamor for his resignation have had a chilling effect on others, especially younger faculty.

"Even if they dropped it tomorrow, not too many people want to go through what I've been through in the last year," he said.

Not so, said Sheldon Steinbach, general counsel for the American Council on Education, which represents 1,800 colleges, universities and other higher education groups.

"All told, a year later, all the concern surrounding Mr. Churchill has not in any way chilled free speech on campus or impaired academic freedom," he said. He said the controversy has made universities more careful about who they invite to speak on campus and who they grant tenure to.

Horowitz, meanwhile, has argued against firing Churchill for the Sept. 11 essay, saying that would violate the First Amendment. But he said the controversy should make universities more careful about hiring and granting tenure.

He credits Churchill with awakening the public to what he calls the "grim" condition of American higher education.

"I don't think that the public realized that there were professors like this," he said. "Here was a raving lunatic who was not only a full professor -- it wasn't like he was an instructor -- (but was) completely unqualified at that."

Horowitz said university presidents are now trying to protect their schools from a backlash like the one that hit Colorado. University President Elizabeth Hoffman, who was also besiged by a football recruiting scandal and other problems, resigned last June.

"Ward Churchill has made them feel vulnerable. Ward Churchill has exposed a fault line for the universities, in that their faculties have become way too radical," he said.

Some students say the national debate over left-wing faculty is overblown, and that their voices haven't been heard.

"I don't think there is a very good collaboration of faculty and students talking together," said Ryan Riley, president of the Student Government Association at Widener University in Philadelphia.

Bridget Early, Riley's counterpart at Western Illinois in Macomb, said students there are more concerned about dwindling state funding and about getting a useful degree.

"We've got bigger issues to address. It kind of becomes a distraction," she said.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)