This petition was initiated by Teachers for a Democratic Society, that was formed by several of those named in David Horowitz, Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. (Update: I noticed the signatories are now in excess of 400. I will not be updating the petition but the link to the website of Teachers for a Democratic Society is current.)
Support Academic Freedom
To Whom It May Concern:
As members of academic professions committed to the principle of academic freedom, we deplore the procedures and recommendations of the University of Colorado in the case of Professor Ward Churchill. Responding to a public outcry against Professor Churchill's constitutionally-protected free speech, the administration of the University of Colorado appointed a special committee to investigate the character and quality of Churchill's scholarship. The committee recommended his dismissal, a recommendation that is supported by university administrators.
The case against Professor Churchill is flawed on multiple contextual, procedural, and substantive grounds. Some of these are recognized by the university's own investigative committee. The committee's final report communicates a profound "disquiet" about the political motivations for the inquiry. Similarly, it worries about the fairness and legitimacy of a process that has the university's interim Chancellor serving as formal complainant against Professor Churchill while he's also positioned as prosecutor and judge. In addition to these misgivings about context and process, the report contains other substantive problems. These include (1) an unreasonably broad and elastic definition of "research misconduct"; (2) a near-obsessive interest in dissecting a small number of paragraphs and footnotes from an otherwise "impressive" and "unusually high volume" of academic work, an analysis that virtually guaranteed the discovery of errors, misrepresentations, and inconsistencies even as it reaffirmed the validity of several "general points" and a core of "historical truth"; and (3) a failure to fully appreciate the "scholar activist" and "public intellectual" roles—roles that, on balance, expand and enrich the academic and journalistic enterprises—that Professor Churchill was clearly expected to fill when hired by the University of Colorado.
The actions of the University of Colorado in this case constitute a serious threat to academic freedom. They indicate that public controversy is dangerous and potentially lethal to the careers of those who engage it. They suggest that professors—tenured and untenured alike—serve at the pleasure of politicians and pundits. They call into question standards of scholarship and peer review at Colorado 's flagship institution. They endanger not only those scholars working in that area where historical inquiry, critical social commentary, and political activism intersect—an area that defines the true locus of academic freedom in an open and democratic society—but also those historically disenfranchised "others" who are struggling to have their perspectives and programs represented in, and legitimized by, the academic mainstream. Thus, for a variety of reasons that go well beyond the scholarship and politics of a particular individual, we urge the University of Colorado to reverse its decision to fire Professor Ward Churchill.
Sincerely,
Teachers for a Democratic Society
- K. Jahi Adisa, University of Connecticut
- Anthony Alessandrini, English, Kingsborough Community College-CUNY
- Mike Alewitz, Art, Central CT State University
- Douglas Allen, Philosophy, University of Maine
- Robert Alvarez, University of California, San Diego
- Jack Amariglio, Economics, Merrimack College
- Peter Amato, Drexel University
- Doug Anderson, University of Connecticut
- Anatole Anton, Philosophy, San Francisco State University
- Fulya Apaydin, Political Science, Brown University
- Robert Aponte, Indiana University
- Bing Aradanas, University of California at San Diego
- Eric Arnold, History, University of Denver
- David Arnow, CIS, Brooklyn College
- Stanley Aronowitz, Sociology, City University of New York
- Andrew Austin, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
- Regina Austin, Law, University of Pennsylvania
- Bill Ayers, Education, University of Illinois-Chicago
- Ihsan Bagby, Islamic Studies, University of Kentucky
- James Francis Bailey, III, Indiana University School of Law
- M. Lynn Baker, Music, University of Denver
- Mona Baker, University of Manchester, UK
- Tarak Barkawi, Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge
- Hatem Bazian, Near Eastern Studies, University of California-Berkeley
- Marc Becker, History, Truman State University
- Pamela Behan, Sociology, University of Houston – Downtown
- Joel Beinin, History, Stanford University
- Richard Bensel, Government, Cornell University
- Yael Ben-zvi, Ben-Gurion University
- John C. Berg, Government, Suffolk University
- Michael Lujan Bevacqua, Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego
- Carole Biewener, Economics and Women's Studies, Simmons College
- Vladimir Bilenkin, North Carolina State University
- Marc Bilodeau, Economics, IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis)
- Cyrus Bina, Economics and Management, University of Minnesota, Morris
- Michael Yellow Bird, (Arikara/Hidatsa), Indigenous Nations Studies Program, University of Kansas
- John D. Blanco, Literature, University of California, San Diego
- Julie Boddy, the Library of Congress
- Ken Bonetti, University of Colorado
- Scarlet Bowen, English, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder
- Clare Brandabur, DoÄŸuÅŸ University, Istanbul
- Margaret Breen, English and Women's Studies, University of Connecticut
- Timothy Brennan, University of Minnesota
- Neil Brenner, sociology, New York University
- Denise Breton, independent scholar
- Renate Bridenthal, Brooklyn College, CUNY, Emerita
- Jeffrey Broadbent, Sociology, University of Minnesota
- Robert Brookins, Indiana University Law School, Indianapolis
- Susan Buck-Morss, Cornell University
- Paul Burkett, Economics, Indiana State University
- Daniel Burton-Rose, independent scholar
- Alec Campbell, Colby College
- Susan Sánchez Casal, Hamilton College
- María Elena Cepeda, Latina/o Studies, Williams College
- Barbara Chasin, Sociology, Montclair State University
- Hari Chathrattil, South Asia Center, Syracuse University
- Partha Chatterjee, Anthropology, Coumbia University
- Vivek Chibber, Sociology, New York University
- Levon Chorbajian, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Roberto Corrada, Law, University of Denver
- João Cowperthwaite, Rutgers University
- James Craven/Omahkohkiaayo i'poyi, Clark College/Blackfoot Nation
- Cindy Cruz, UCLA
- Richard Curtis, Philosophy, Seattle Central Community College
- Bucker Dangor, Physics, Imperial College London, UK
- Michael Davidson, Palm Beach Community College
- Chuck Davis, Labor Studies, Indiana University
- Davy Davis, Theatre, University of Denver
- Anuj Dawar, University of Cambridge, UK
- Greg Dawes, Foreign Languages and Literatures, North Carolina State University
- Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Chicana/o Studies & English, University of California, Los Angeles
- Nicholas De Genova, Anthropology, Columbia University
- Enrique de la Cruz, Asian-American Studies, California State University-Northridge
- Herman De Ley, Ghent University (Belgium)
- Christof Demont-Heinrich, School of Communication, University of Denver
- Georgi M. Derluguian, Sociology, Northwestern University
- James G. Devine, Loyola Marymount University
- Scott Dexter, Computer and Information Science, Brooklyn College/CUNY
- Jackie DiSalvo, English, City University of New York
- Bernardine Dohrn, Law, Northwestern University
- Jack Donnelly, Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
- Jeff Duncan-Andrade, San Francisco State University
- Patrick Dyer, Psychology, U. of Toledo
- Rick Eckstein, Sociology, Villanova University
- Tracy Ehlers, Anthropology, University of Denver
- Nancy Ehrenreich, Law, University of Denver
- Zillah Eisenstein, Politics, Ithaca College
- Robert Elias, Politics, University of San Francisco
- Sharon Elise, Sociology and Ethnic Studies, California State University-San Marcos
- Mansour O. El-Kikhia, University of Texas at San Antonio
- Jane Ely, Sociology, Stony Brook University
- Emily Erikson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Matthew Evangelista, Cornell University
- Fred Evans, Duquesne University
- Gil Eyal, Sociology, Columbia University
- Richard Falk, Law, Princeton University
- Ronald Farina, Business, University of Denver
- James Faris, Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Emeritus
- Richard Farthing, North Carolina Elementry School Teacher
- Samuel Day Fassbinder, Riverside Community College
- Sasan Fayazmanesh, Economics, California State University-Fresno
- Joe Feagin, Sociology, Texas A&M University
- Gordon Fellman, Sociology, Brandeis University
- Clinton Fernandes, University of New South Wales
- Robert M. Fishman, Sociology and Kellogg Institute Fellow, University of
Notre Dame - Richard Flacks, Sociology, University of California-Santa Barbara
- Manzar Foroohar, California Polytechnic State University
- Richard W. Franke, Montclair State University
- H. Bruce Franklin, English and American Studies, Rutgers University
- Elaine Freedgood, English, New York University
- Lilian Friedberg, University of Illinois-Chicago
- Marcela Fuentes, Performance Studies, NYU
- Grover Furr, English, Montclair State University
- Jose I. Fuste, UC San Diego
- David Gabbard, East Carolina University
- Stephen Gallagher, independent scholar
- Ella Gant, Hamilton College
- Emma Garcia, Colby College
- Phil Gasper, Philosophy, Notre Dame de Namur University
- Rich Gibson, San Diego State University
- Alan Gilbert, Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
- Melissa Gilbert, Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University
- Terri Ginsberg, Ithaca College
- Kama Girard, SnowStar Institute of Religion
- Mikal Girard, SnowStar Institute of Religion
- Henry Giroux, McMaster University
- Chellis Glendinning, independent scholar
- Barbara Gold, Hamilton College
- Jack Goldstone, George Mason University
- Deena J. Gonzalez, Loyola Marymount University
- Priyamvada Gopal, University of Cambridge, UK
- Lewis Gordon, Philosophy, Temple University
- Kim Gorgens, Graduate School of Professional Psychology, University of Denver
- Van Gosse, History, Franklin & Marshall College
- Roger S. Gottlieb, Philosophy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Ilene Grabel, Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
- Dennis Grammenos, Geography, Northeastern Illinois University
- Deborah Grealy, Education, University of Denver
- Cecilia Green, Sociology, University of Pittsburgh
- Kathy Green, College of Education, University of Denver
- Harvette Grey, DePaul University
- Jennifer Mary Guglielmo, Smith College
- Christopher Gunn, Economics, Hobart & William Smith Colleges
- Yvonne Haddad, History, Georgetown University
- LaDawn Haglund, School of Justice and Social Inquiry, Arizona State
University - John Hall, McGill University
- Terry Hammond, Oregon Health and Science University
- Elaine Harger, Mount Si High School, Snoqualmie WA
- Beth Harris, Ithaca College
- Andrew Hartman, Illinois State University
- Sarah Hartman, independent scholar
- Doug Harvey, Johnson County Community College
- Korry Harvey, Western Washington University
- Linda Heidenreich, Washington State University
- Stefan Helmreich, Anthropology, MIT
- John F. Henry, University of Missouri, Kansas City
- Rebecca Hensley, St. Leo University
- Thushara Hewage, Anthropology, Columbia University
- Darrin Hicks, Human Communications Studies, University of Denver
- D. Emily Hicks, San Diego State University
- Caroline Higgins, History and Peace Studies, Earlham College
- Anthony Hilton, Concordia University, Montreal
- Robert Hironimus-Wendt, Sociology and Anthropology, Western Illinois University
- Patrick Colm Hogan, University of Connecticut
- A. Kathryn Hohman, Anthropology, Columbia University
- Julia Bolton Holloway, University of Colorado at Boulder, Emeritus
- G. S. Hudson, independent scholar
- Mark Hudson, Progressive Librarians Guild
- Mickey Huff, History, Berkeley City College
- Naeem Inayatullah, Ithaca College
- Alex Inkeles, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
- T. M. Itsou, University of Connecticut
- Arnold Itwaru, Caribbean Studies, University of Toronto
- Matthew Frye Jacobson, American Studies, Yale University
- Alison M. Jaggar, University of Colorado Boulder
- Derrick Jensen, independent scholar
- Robert Jensen, Journalism, University of Texas-Austin
- Radha Jhappan, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
- Richard A. Jones, Philosophy, Howard University
- Keith Jordan, CUNY
- Alfred Joseph, Miami University
- Donna M. Joss, Worcester State College (Emeritus)
- Patience Kabamba, Columbia University
- Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
- Anne Kane, Sociology, University of Houston – Downtown
- Maulana Karenga, Black Studies, California State University-Long Beach
- Cindi Katz, City University of New York
- Eileen Kaufman, Touro Law School
- Kerwin Kaye, American Studies, New York University
- Kamala Kempadoo, Social Science, York University, Toronto
- Alfred Killilea, Political Science, University of Rhode Island
- Michael Kimmel, Sociology, SUNY Stony Brook
- Peter N. Kirstein, History and Political Science, St Xavier University
- Josh Klein, Iona College
- Patricia N. Klingenberg, Miami University, Oxford, OH
- Alexandra Kowalski, Sociology, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
- Christian Kraatz, SnowStar Institute of Religion
- John M. Krafft, English, Miami University-Hamilton
- Tamara Kuennen, Law, University of Denver
- Richard Lachman, Sociology, SUNY-Albany
- Gordon Lafer, University of Oregon
- Amar K. Lahiri, University of Rhode Island
- Vinay Lal, History, UCLA
- Matthew Lange, Sociology, McGill University, Montreal
- Lauren Langman, Sociology, Loyola University of Chicago
- Mark A. Lause, History, University of Cincinnati
- John Lawrence, The College of Staten Island
- Angela D. Ledford, The College of Saint Rose
- Jerry Lembcke, Sociology, Holy Cross College
- John R. Leo, University of Rhode Island
- Jacob Levich, SUNY-Stony Brook
- Mark LeVine, History, UCI
- Ursula Lindqvist, University of Colorado
- Eloise Linger, SUNY- Old Westbury
- Gerardo R. Lopez, Indiana University
- Eric Lott, University of Virginia
- Bernice Lott, Psychology & Women's Studies, University of RI, emeritus
- Ashley Lucas, UNC Chapel Hill
- William Lynch, Wayne State University
- Staughton Lynd, independent scholar
- Lauren Lyon, SnowStar Institute of Religion
- Vincent Lyon-Callo, Anthropology, Western Michigan University
- David MacGregor, King's University College
- Tina Majkowski, Performance Studies, New York University
- Mahmood Mamdani, Columbia University
- Eric Mann, Labor/Community Strategy Center, Los Angeles
- Gail Mansouri, Borough of Manhattan Community College
- Sandra Mathison, University of British Columbia
- Julie Matthaei, Professor of Economics, Wellesley College
- John Maynard, English, New York University
- Robert McChesney, Institute of Communications Research, University of Illinois
- Aminah Beverly McCloud, Religious Studies, DePaul University
- Kathleen de la Peña McCook, University of South Florida
- Denise Eileen McCoskey, Classics, Miami University
- Terrence McDonough, Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway
- Peter McLaren, UCLA
- Eduardo Mendieta, Latin American & Caribbean Studies Center, Stony Brook University
- Lily Mendoza, Human Communication Studies, University of Denver
- Louis Mendoza, Chicano Studies, University of Minnesota
- Stephen Mennell, Sociology, University College Dublin
- Oneida (Zia) Meranto, Political Science, Metropolitan State College, Denver
- Sandro Mezzadra, Università di Bologna, Italia
- Peter Michelson, U. of Colorado, retired
- John Miller, Wheaton College
- Lyn Miller-Lachmann, independent scholar
- Majid Mohammadi, Classical and Near Eastern Studies, SUNY-Binghamton
- Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Women's Studies, Syracuse University
- David Montano, Music, University of Denver
- Michael Montoya, Anthropology & Chicano/Latino Studies, UC-Irvine
- Dreama Moon, Communication, California State University-San Marcos
- Robin Moore, Independent Scholar
- Carlos Muñoz, Jr., University of California, Berkeley
- Carolina Bank Muñoz, Brooklyn College-CUNY
- Austin Murphy, Finance, Oakland University
- Alan G. Nasser, The Evergreen State College, Emeritus
- Kamran Nayeri, University of California, Berkeley
- Manny Ness, Brooklyn College / CUNY
- Sam Noumoff, McGill University
- Dan Novak, University of Rhode Island
- Katrina Oliveira, University of Hawai'i
- Bertell Ollman, Politics, NYU
- Jackie Orr, Sociology, Syracuse University
- William T. O'Malley, University of Rhode Island
- Poornima Paidipaty, Columbia University
- Priya Parmar, Brooklyn College – CUNY
- Karen Paton-Evans, SnowStar Institute of Religion
- Edward Paulino, John Jay College
- David Pellow, Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego
- Michael Perelman, Economics, California State University, Chico
- Emma Perez, Ethnic Studies, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder
- Nicole Perez, DePaul University
- Rafael Perez-Torres, UCLA
- Rosalind Petchesky, Hunter College, City University of New York
- Stephen Philion, St. Cloud State University
- Bruce Pietrykowski, Economics, University of Michigan-Dearborn
- Stephen Pitti, Yale University
- Charles Post, Social Science, BMCC-CUNY
- Joshua Price, Human Development, State University of New York at Binghamton
- Michelle Primavera, Montclair State University
- Alberto Prunetti, independent scholar
- Burn Purdon, SnowStar Institute of Religion
- Michael Pyshnov, Toronto, Canada
- William Quigley, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
- Reiland Rabaka, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder
- Nancy S. Rabinowitz, Hamilton College
- Peter Rachleff, Macalester College
- Francisco O. Ramirez, Stanford University
- Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas, Anthropology/Latino Studies, Rutgers University
- Nagesh Rao, The College of New Jersey
- Andree J Rathemacher, University of Rhode Island Libraries
- Raheel Raza, independent scholar
- Rush Rehm, Drama and Classics, Stanford University
- Michael A. Rice, University of Rhode Island
- Sam Richards, Sociology, Pennsylvania State University
- Ann Krohn Rick, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Robin Riley, Women's Studies Program, Syracuse University
- John-Michael Rivera, English, University of Colorado at Boulder
- Corey Robin, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York
- Dylan Rodriguez, University of California, Riverside
- Besenia Rodriguez, Yale University
- David Roediger , University of Illinois
- Florence Wagman Roisman, Indiana U. School of Law
- Brenda M. Romero, Musicology, University of Colorado Boulder
- Peter W. Rose, Miami University of Ohio
- Robert C. Rosen, English, William Paterson University
- Martha Rosler, Visual Arts, Rutgers University
- Andrew Ross, American Studies, NYU
- E. Wayne Ross, Education, University of British Columbia
- Mérida Rúa, Latina/o Studies and American Studies, Williams College
- Cheryl Rubenberg, Florida International University (retired)
- Carl A. Rubino, Classics, Hamilton College
- Kristin Ruppel, Montana State University
- Ann Russo, DePaul University
- Natsu Taylor Saito, Georgia State University College of Law
- Dean Saitta, Anthropology, University of Denver
- Kirkpatrick Sale, independent scholar
- Ann Scales, Law, University of Denver
- Naomi Schiller, Anthropology, New York University
- Sanford F. Schram, Bryn Mawr College
- Malini Schueller, University of Florida
- Manuel Schwab, Columbia University
- Michael Schwartz, Sociology, SUNY-Stony Brook
- Michael Seltzer, Oslo University College, Oslo, Norway
- Janine Sepúlveda, AEI, University of Oregon
- Jesús Sepúlveda, University of Oregon
- Peter Seybold, Sociology, Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis
- Stephen R. Shalom, Political Science, William Paterson University
- Timothy Shortell, Sociology, Brooklyn College, CUNY
- Eleni Sikelianos, English, University of Denver
- Wallace Sillanpoa, Italian, University of Rhode Island
- Marina Sitrin, Gallatin School, New York University
- David Smilde, University of Georgia
- Anna Marie Smith, Cornell University
- David A. Smith, Sociology, UC-Irvine
- Tyson Smith, Sociology, SUNY-Stony Brook
- Bryan Snyder, Bentley College
- Mike Sobocinski, independent scholar
- Susana M. Sotillo, Linguistics, Montclair State University
- Rudy Soto, Portland State University
- Thomas B. Spademan, Philosophy, Mott Community College
- Shannon Speed, Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin
- John Staeck, College of DuPage
- David Stovall, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Nandini Sundar, University of Delhi, India
- Paul Sutton, Geography, University of Denver
- Omar Swartz, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center
- Carl Swidorski, The College of Saint Rose
- Ghada Talhami, Lake Forest College
- Makram Talih, Hunter College, CUNY
- Harry Targ, Political Science, Purdue University
- Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University
- Peter Taubman, Brooklyn College
- Michael Taylor, Philosophy, Oklahoma State University
- Gregory Tewksbury, Lang College, New School University
- Margie Thompson, Mass Communications, University of Denver
- Chris Tilly, University of Massachusetts Lowell
- Anna Tsing, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Sherrie Tucker, University of Kansas
- Eric Tymoigne, California State University, Fresno
- Lisa Uperesa, Anthropology, Columbia University
- Edward Valandra, University of California at Davis
- Alexandra Vazquez, Yale University
- Michael Vocino, Film and Media Studies, University of Rhode Island
- Antina von Schnitzler, Anthropology, Columbia University
- Nancy Wadsworth, Political Science, University of Denver
- Derek Wall, Politics, Goldsmiths College, University of London
- Victor Wallis, Berklee College of Music
- Margaret Whilde, Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
- Benjamin Whitmer, Ethnic Studies, University of Colorado
- Vondora Wilson, Suffolk County Community College
- Howard Winant, University of California, Santa Barbara
- George Wolfe, Music and Peace Studies, Ball State University
- Rosemarie Wolfe, SnowStar Institute
- Laiana Wong, University of Hawai'i
- Lesley Wood, York University
- Bruce E Wright, California State University, Fullerton
- Yavuz Yasar, Economics, University of Denver
- Michael D. Yates, Economics, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown-Emeritus
- Keith Yearman, Geography, College of DuPage
- Ana Celia Zentella, Ethnic Studies, University of California at San Diego
- John Zerzan, independent scholar
If you would like to add your name to the list of signatories, please send a request to the webmaster.
