Fire the Fraud

Ward Churchill, the University of Colorado professor who plagiarized texts and made obnoxious comments about the 9/11 attacks and their victims should be fired.

The president of the University of Colorado has recommended that a professor who likened some September 11 victims to a Nazi should be fired, according to the professor and the school.

Ward Churchill, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, has denied the allegations and threatened a lawsuit if he is dismissed.

CU President Hank Brown made the recommendation in a 10-page letter sent to the chair of the committee that handles tenure issues. University spokeswoman Michele McKinney confirmed published reports about the recommendation Monday but said the school would not make the letter public.

The university's governing Board of Regents would have the final say on whether Churchill is fired or disciplined. It could be several weeks before the case ends up in its hands; the tenure panel must review it first.

Churchill touched off a firestorm with an essay likening some victims in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust.

University officials concluded he could not be fired for his comments because they were protected by the First Amendment, but they launched an investigation into allegations that he fabricated or falsified his research and plagiarized.

To me, it isn't the 9/11 comments that should get him fired. It's the academic fraud he's engaged in for years that form the basis for firing him.

As the earlier investigation determined:

Another committee found Churchill guilty of research misconduct and another panel recommended that he be fired because of "repeated and deliberate" infractions of scholarship rules.

Such conduct cannot be tolerated at an academic institution since intellecutal honesty and academic pursuits are based upon the honesty and veracity of the researchers and academics. Allowing Churchill to remain at the University undermines the University's goals, mission, and credibility.

UPDATE:
Hot Air wonders what it will actually take to get him fired considering that this isn't the first call by those associated with the University for him to be fired.