By Jessica & Rob Corry jessicapeckcorry@yahoo.com David Lane, media spinster and attorney to the Far Left, has finally come to a point where he can spin no more. He and his client, Ward Churchill, the University of Colorado’s America-hating professor of the moment, laughably claimed “victory” yesterday upon learning that CU will move forward with its investigation into the professor’s professional incompetence and fraud. Nice try, Mr Lane, but no sale.
In its lead editorial Tuesday, the Rocky Mountain News correctly observes, “CU may have made plenty of mistakes in the way it hired and promoted Churchill over the years, but it has taken another small step toward partial redemption” with its findings.
While this is big news—and good news—it’s not good enough. CU’s subcommittee on research misconduct also stated that it will not move forward with allegations that Churchill lied about his ethnicity to nab positions that CU officials have admitted were offered to him at least partially because he falsely claimed Native American ancestry.
By refusing to reprimand Churchill on this count, and in spite of plenty of evidence that would allow them to do so, CU officials have failed to take one of the most important steps toward redemption. Essentially, they have said CU will continue to look the other way when it comes to questions of race.
Ultimately, the committee’s actions make Churchill’s dismissal more likely, but they do nothing to address CU’s continued reliance on race (and racism) in hiring and admissions. Churchill, hired because he was thought to be Indian, is just another white guy on a white campus. Does his ethnicity matter? Are his views less desirable on the campus because of his skin color? Or simply because they are filled with lies and inaccuracies?
The taxpayers deserve an answer. And as the legal bills inevitably mount, they deserve a flagship higher education institution where ideas and research—not skin color—get people jobs.
For those interested in learning more specifics on the Churchill investigation, including his unproven claim to Native American ancestry, click here for our report from Claremont Institute Colorado, “No License To Lie: Standards For Impartial Judgment in the Churchill Scandal.”