'I do not work for taxpayers,' prof says
Churchill throws down gauntlet at speech in Boulder
By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News
February 9, 2005
BOULDER - A defiant Ward Churchill told an overflow audience of more than a thousand at the University of Colorado on Tuesday night that he will not back down or be silenced.
Most of the crowd that packed CU's Glenn Miller Ballroom for Churchill's speech appeared to be pulling for him in the fight of his professional life. It was his first public talk since becoming embroiled in controversy for his 3-year-old essay on the Sept. 11 attacks.
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"I'm not backing off an inch. I owe no one an apology," he said, during his highly anticipated speech, which was advertised to be one hour but ran just about 35 minutes.
That was just one of many lines to win a standing ovation from many in the crowd.
Churchill, 57, has been the focus of heated debate since late last month when his scheduled appearance on a panel discussion at Hamilton College, at Clinton, N.Y., triggered renewed scrutiny of his essay, "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens."
In that piece, he likened "technocrats" working in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi charged by Adolf Hitler with implementing plans for extermination of European Jews.
In a rapid succession of events last week, Churchill resigned his post as chairman of CU's ethnic studies department - while keeping his $94,000 teaching post; heard Gov. Bill Owens and members of Congress call for his outright resignation; saw the Board of Regents vote to launch an investigation into his record, which could lead to a call for his firing; and lost his date with Hamilton College, after the school canceled his appearance, because of threats against Churchill and others.
Eastern Washington University and Wheaton College also canceled planned appearances by Churchill, and the University of Wisconsin is debating whether to permit him to speak March 1.
CU, too, had called off Tuesday night's appearance by Churchill. But several parties, including an ad hoc organization called CU Students, Faculty and Staff in Support of Ward Churchill, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order Tuesday morning in U.S. District Court, challenging the school's decision as an unconstitutional restraint of Churchill's free speech.
Before the matter could be heard, however, student organizers met with CU officials during the day and reached an accord, permitting the event to go forward.
"They have completely capitulated," attorney Darold Killmer said, after the court hearing was averted. "They knew they were constitutionally wrong and I'm sure they knew they couldn't possibly win."
CU officials said they decided to proceed with the event after student organizers admitted they had overstated the nature of security threats in conversations with officials on Monday.
Churchill, in a black leather jacket and jeans, was engulfed in a phalanx of supporters, fellow leaders of Colorado's American Indian Movement members and security personnel. He arrived 20 minutes late for his appearance.
But when Churchill stepped to the podium following ceremonial American Indian drumming and singing, plus a fiery introduction by AIM activist Russell Means, it was clear the crowd wasn't going to punish him for the delay.
"Bill Owens, do you get it now?" he asked, following the 40-second standing ovation with which he was greeted. That cued another strong wave of applause.
"I do not work for the taxpayers of the state of Colorado. I do not work for Bill Owens. I work for you. . . . The Board of Regents should do its job, and let me do mine."
The battle lines were drawn and underscored repeatedly, in overtly political colors.
Churchill, his voice strained at times and keyed to a fighting pitch for most of his talk, said "there is not an inch of give" in his stance, and that "This institution needs to be protected from the ravages of the rabid right wing" elements that he perceives to be behind the attacks on his credibility and his scholarship.
A primary reason for Tuesday's speech was so Churchill could explain the reasoning behind his essay. He insisted he never advocated or endorsed the nearly 3,000 deaths occurring Sept. 11, but only meant to explain that America's foreign policies - such as the support for U.N. sanctions against Iraq, which many have blamed for deaths through starvation and disease of 500,000 Iraqi children after the first Gulf War - can yield disastrous payback.
"What you are putting out will blow back on you, and that's what happened," he said.
"We're worried about weapons of mass destruction, in a country that has the largest inventory (of nuclear arms) in the world, the only country that has used them on civilian targets, and intentionally used them on civilian targets."
Churchill and Means both spoke bitterly about renewed attacks in the media over recent days on the issue of Churchill's American Indian heritage. He has, in the past, claimed both one-sixteenth and three-sixteenths Cherokee heritage, but others who have studied his genealogy have questioned those assertions.
"The issue (of challenging Churchill's political arguments) was not sustainable, so I was to become the issue," said Churchill. "Well, later, for that."
Means, whose introduction was often even more impassioned than Churchill's delivery, was also disgusted with those taking issue with Churchill's heritage.
"I don't know what Clear Channel (the media giant) says about his one-sixteenth or three-sixteenths. Here's where it counts," Means said, tapping his heart.
Alluding to the regents' order last week for a probe of his written and spoken records, which Churchill puts at more than 24 books and 70 chapter contributions to other publications, Means said, "I know the regents aren't going to get through them all.
"Those cowards," he added, "who could not stand up for women, and could not stand up for their own professors," apparently referring to female students who have alleged they were raped in recent years by CU football players or recruits.
Churchill was clearly buoyed by the predominantly positive reception on his home turf.
"You give me hope. You all give me hope," he concluded.
He raised one fist above his head, saying, "Power to the people" but his voice was largely drowned by the applause.
Professor's on-, off- and on-again speech: a chronology
FRIDAY, FEB. 4
• It's on: CU officials announce security will be tight for Churchill's speech. Backpacks and fanny packs will be banned. Metal detectors will be used. Purses will be searched.
SUNDAY, FEB. 6
• It's still on: Student Dustin Craun, a Churchill backer, predicts the speech will be peaceful after having received a citation accusing him of disrupting Thursday's regents meeting. "Security will be steep. Nothing's going to happen. I won't be surprised if there are interruptions. Those people will be escorted out," he said.
MONDAY, FEB. 7
• Ready: CU Police spokesman Lt. Tim McGraw tells a reporter he is confident that security for the speech can be handled smoothly.
• Set: CU students hold a press conference in support of Churchill.
• Stop: CU officials announce that the speech has been postponed after receiving reports of threats made against CU students. "We felt it was in the best interests of all concerned to cancel the talk at this time in order to allow us more time to plan for such an event at another time," said Ron Stump, CU-Boulder vice chancellor for student affairs.
• It's off: Student supporters reconvene to protest the decision to postpone the speech.
TUESDAY MORNING
• Back on: CU administrators reverse their decision after saying students have retracted their claims of having been threatened.
Staff writer David Montero contributed to this report.
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