Fire Ward Churchill

We, the undersigned faculty members of US institutions of higher learning, in order to protect and ensure the integrity of academic scholarship, applaud and support the efforts (however belated or inept) of the University of Colorado at Boulder to terminate the employment of Professor Ward Churchill, a documented historical fraud and serial plagiarizer.

[list of signatories can be found at the end of this post]

The above brief statement is PirateBallerina's response to the various petitions and statements of support for Ward Churchill we see here and there on the internet. Our statement represents no faction or party; it has no lengthy agenda, and its brevity is intentional: it is meant simply to show academic support for the sacking of a very bad scholar.

If you wish to add your signature to the above statement, email us your agreement. We'll accept the following signatories: US professors, regardless of discipline or field of study (also okay: retired/emeritus US professors).

We'll need the following information in your email:

• Your full name (for publication)
• Your title (professor, associate professor, assistant professor, adjunct professor, lecturer, etc.)
• Your discipline/field of study (for publication)
• Your college or university (for publication)
• office phone number (not for publication, for private verification only)

A sample of what we won't accept:

• "independent scholars"
• students (unless we can verify that you are also a teacher at a college or university)
• academics from countries other than the United States

We don't kid ourselves; it's very unlikely we'll get many signatures; we're prepared for the possibility that we may not get one. The statement is very blunt, for one thing. For another, it makes no attempt to persuade; it assumes you've already educated yourself on the particulars of the Churchill case, enough to have a strong opinion.

If you find you do need additional information, the CU investigating committee's report is a good place to start. Also, Professor Thomas Brown has written an excellent paper dissecting one of Churchill's more notorious historical fabrications. PB itself has addressed Churchill's response to CU's charges, as well as the fallacious belief that in order to punish CU for its admittedly near-perfect record of mishandling the Churchill affair, CU must be forced to continue his employment.

One last caveat: Signatories are endorsing the one-sentence statement above, and nothing else. They are not indicating their support of or agreement with any other opinions expressed here on PB.

Important note: All institutional affiliations published with this list of signatories are provided for informational purposes only, and do not represent endorsement, official or tacit, by the respective institutions.

List of Academics Endorsing this Statement of Support:

1. Thomas D. Russell, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law (Fields of study—law, American history; www.law.du.edu/russell)
2. Francis Rexford Cooley, M.A. (history), M.Ed., Lecturer-in-General Studies (History), Paier College of Art (University of Colorado alumnus)
3. Tim Zacharias, Adjunct Professor, History, Blue Mountain Community College