Thanks *millions* Sam Bam, Ward couldn't have
done it without fools and stooges like you. Toodles~
CU weighs buyout for firebrand prof
By Dave Curtin and Arthur Kane
Denver Post Staff Writers
Saturday, February 26, 2005 -
University of Colorado officials are considering offering Ward Churchill an
early retirement package that could end an increasingly uncomfortable standoff
with the controversial professor.
Two people familiar with internal CU discussions said the still-undetermined
offer is in the idea stage. The discussions come just a week before a
three-person panel is scheduled to deliver a report on Churchill's fitness for
tenure.
David Lane, Churchill's attorney, said he has not been contacted about a buyout
offer.
But, he said, while his primary focus is on protecting Churchill's
constitutional right to speak out, he would be willing to listen to a university
proposal.
"If they offer $10 million, I would think about it. If they offer him $10, I
wouldn't," Lane said.
Attorneys for CU were not available for comment Friday afternoon.
Since it was first reported that Churchill, a CU ethnic studies professor, had
demonized some of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the
university has faced relentless scrutiny of its hiring practices and faculty
qualifications. Churchill has undergone an extensive media review of his
scholarship, artwork and genealogy, while everyone from radio talk-show hosts to
syndicated newspaper columnists have questioned his integrity, his ancestry and
his military career.
CU regents have said they are bound by due process and authorized a review of
Churchill's writings and speech by a panel comprising the interim Boulder
chancellor, the arts and sciences dean, and the law school dean.
Depending on the panel's findings, due the week of March 7, CU president Betsy
Hoffman could inform Churchill of the university's desire to terminate his
employment. Churchill would then have the right to appeal through a faculty
committee.
Typically such dismissals - even if done by the book - result in years of
expensive lawsuits that Hoffman told legislators last week the university would
like to avoid.
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