Ethnicity Investigation Dropped by University of Colorado
DENVER
The University of Colorado has dropped its investigation into the American Indian heritage of the professor who came under fire for likening Sept. 11 victims to an infamous Nazi, the professor said.
A faculty committee recommended, however, that the university continue its inquiry into plagiarism allegations, the professor’s attorney said.
A letter from the university last week said a faculty panel decided to drop the ethnicity matter, Ward Churchill said this week.
“There’s no basis to proceed,” Churchill quoted the letter as saying, later adding: “It should have never been an issue. It can be taken as that ‘we’re not functioning as boards of racial purity with a board of White guys that sit around and decide who’s an Indian and who’s not.”’
University spokeswoman Pauline Hale said the panel’s work is confidential and declined to comment on the story, first reported by KUSA-TV. The subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct was close to finishing its work, Hale said.
