[A-List] CU Students Organize Teach-in - Ward Churchill to teach unsanctioned course on CU campus

["The Buffalo In Da' Midst" <the.buffalo.in.the.midst@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ward Churchill to teach unsanctioned course on CU campus
University distancing itself for student-organized lecture series

By Brittany Anas (Contact)
Friday, September 28, 2007

Fired University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill will return to
the Boulder campus next week to begin teaching an unsanctioned course
that's being organized by his student supporters.

University officials have distanced themselves from the planned
lecture series â slated to begin Tuesday night â and say that
Churchill remains terminated.

The students organizing Churchill's teachings say the series is
intended for those who "missed out" on his years as an American Indian
studies professor and as head of the ethnic studies department at CU.

Neither Churchill nor his student backers could be reached for comment Thursday.

"He's a professor, he likes to teach people â so that's what he's
doing," said David Lane, Churchill's attorney, who was unaware of his
client's planned lecture series.

CU officials released a statement Thursday afternoon emphasizing that
any students who attend Churchill's discussions will not receive
credit and the lectures aren't endorsed by the university or
considered to be sanctioned academic coursework.

"Any CU student is at liberty to invite Ward Churchill to campus to
speak, but this should not be viewed by anyone as a resumption of
employment or of his former professorial role at the University of
Colorado at Boulder," campus officials said in the statement.

According to details posted on several Churchill-tracking blogs, the
former professor's free lecture series â expected to run this fall and
next spring â begins with a session from 6:30 to 9:15 p.m. Tuesday in
Humanities room 1B80. Syllabi will be handed out to students along
with a schedule of class times and locations.

Churchill's supporters can hold the classes on campus because the
university allows student groups to reserve classrooms when they are
not in use.

In July, CU regents voted 8-1 to fire Churchill because of
academic-misconduct violations. Churchill has not been allowed to hold
official classes on the campus since May 2006, when the university
stripped him of his teaching, research and service duties after a
panel of scholars found patterns of deliberate academic-misconduct
violations, including plagiarism and fabrication.

Churchill has filed a lawsuit against the school saying his
controversial speech motivated his dismissal. The professor ignited a
national furor in 2005 when his essay on the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks called some victims "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf
Eichmann, who helped carry out Hitler's plan to exterminate Europe's
Jews during World War II.

Churchill supporter Ken Bonetti, an adviser at CU, said he's
interested in attending the student-organized classes and said there
is a need to have Churchill's teachings on the campus.

"There needs to be diverse opinions at the university, and it's
important to have a voice like this, whether or not one agrees with
him," Bonetti said. "I certainly appreciate a variety of opinions and
approaches that were available."

Bonetti said he supports the students' organization of the classes.

"Students have a right to reserve rooms," he said. "I certainly hope
the university doesn't try to stop them. That would be a travesty."

Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie contributed to this report.
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/sep/28/churchill-back-on-cu-campus/