Spring Break
Ayers: Churchill was victim of 'witch hunt'
Dan Elliott The Associated Press
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: News
DENVER (AP) - William Ayers, the Chicago professor whose radical past made him a lightning rod in the 2008 presidential campaign, says fired Colorado professor Ward Churchill was the victim of a "witch hunt."
"There's no doubt in my mind he was persecuted because of his politics," Ayers said Thursday before appearing with Churchill at a student-sponsored forum on academic freedom on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus.
Churchill was a tenured professor of ethnic studies at the university when he ignited a firestorm by likening some victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to Nazi Adolf Eichmann.
The university fired him in 2007 on plagiarism allegations after an investigation that began amid the furor over the Eichmann comment.
Three committees of faculty members from Colorado and other universities accused Churchill of plagiarism, fabrication and other research misconduct. Churchill denies the allegations and filed suit to get his job back. The lawsuit goes to trial next week.
University spokesman Bronson Hilliard called Ayers' allegation "absolute nonsense." He said Churchill was fired because of proven research misconduct, not his statements.
Ayers was a co-founder of the radical anti-Vietnam war group Weather Underground, which claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol that didn't kill anyone.
He was a fugitive for years, surrendering in 1980. Charges against him were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct.
Republicans made Ayers an issue in the presidential campaign last year because he had a limited association with Barack Obama. GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists."
He is now an education professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago and an outspoken critic of what he calls a pattern of intimidation of professors.
"Again and again we have political leaders who weigh in on what's appropriate to teach and who's appropriate to teach," Ayers said Thursday.
"There's no doubt in my mind he was persecuted because of his politics," Ayers said Thursday before appearing with Churchill at a student-sponsored forum on academic freedom on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus.
Churchill was a tenured professor of ethnic studies at the university when he ignited a firestorm by likening some victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to Nazi Adolf Eichmann.
The university fired him in 2007 on plagiarism allegations after an investigation that began amid the furor over the Eichmann comment.
Three committees of faculty members from Colorado and other universities accused Churchill of plagiarism, fabrication and other research misconduct. Churchill denies the allegations and filed suit to get his job back. The lawsuit goes to trial next week.
University spokesman Bronson Hilliard called Ayers' allegation "absolute nonsense." He said Churchill was fired because of proven research misconduct, not his statements.
Ayers was a co-founder of the radical anti-Vietnam war group Weather Underground, which claimed responsibility for a series of bombings, including explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol that didn't kill anyone.
He was a fugitive for years, surrendering in 1980. Charges against him were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct.
Republicans made Ayers an issue in the presidential campaign last year because he had a limited association with Barack Obama. GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists."
He is now an education professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago and an outspoken critic of what he calls a pattern of intimidation of professors.
"Again and again we have political leaders who weigh in on what's appropriate to teach and who's appropriate to teach," Ayers said Thursday.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Phocus
Phocus
posted 3/06/09 @ 5:03 AM MST
Great! One defective loser defending another defective loser. Both able to spin lies into academic positions and infect the minds of unsuspecting students. (Continued…)
Post a Comment