The Ward Churchill affair has the makings of a real academic scandal. Unfortunately, the academic scandal that it ought to be - a scandal that might even prove cathartic - has nothing to do with the academic scandal that it's become. The free speech brouhaha strikes me a complete non-issue, or at least that's what it should be. A university professor writing in a private capacity should be able to say anything he wants subject to the constitutional bounds of the First Amendment; and under no circumstances should his tenure be held hostage to this. But the Ward Churchill scandal that almost everyone's missing has nothing to do with free speech. It has to do with what appears to be alarmingly poor scrutiny of Churchill's academic output and classroom behavior over the past decade. If Churchill really has committed a Bellesiles and an Ellis without any attention from his tenure committee, the University of Colorado should be taking a hard look at the rigor of its hiring and promotion system.
UPDATE: I have to say, it's not looking good for the Prof.
Posted by Alan Allport at February 11, 2005 05:41 AMI owe this whole Churchill flap for my discovery of the History News Network's wonderful blog Cliopatria. I may never post again.
Posted by: Ben Brumfield at February 11, 2005 11:46 AMDon't you dare.
Posted by: Alan Allport at February 11, 2005 11:55 AMI'm pleased to see Brown's article. I grew up near Lamar University, and took classes there in the summers of 1991 and 1993. It's predominantly a commuter college, and I had a high-speed forty-minute commute each way, but remember having had an excellent Physics instructor, and some devoted teachers of French and Spanish.
Posted by: Ben Brumfield at February 11, 2005 12:49 PM