Last Ward Churchill Post -- This Time I Mean It

The Rocky Mountain News publishes a long, and to my mind fair, piece on Ward Churchill and the controversies surrounding him. After months of investigation here are the conclusions:

University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill fabricated historical facts, published the work of others as his own and repeatedly made false claims about two federal Indian laws, a Rocky Mountain News investigation has found.

The two-month News investigation, carried out at the same time Churchill and his work are being carefully examined by the university, also unearthed fresh genealogical information that casts new doubts on the professor's long-held assertion that he is of American Indian ancestry.

This is the introduction to a series of articles on specific charges against Churchill that will be published in the coming week. A sidebar to the linked article details the subjects of the coming articles, for those who care to read them. I don't.

Read the whole miserable thing here.

It's time to cut the cord on this guy. He is a careerist creep and a fraud and a disgrace to the profession. By defending him we only bring shame on ourselves, indeed the entire academic enterprise.

If historians are to hold themselves up as authorities who, because of their professional training and standards, have a superior perspective from which to comment on American history, society, and culture, and to educate our children, they must, in order to maintain that authority, be absolutely scrupulous in their professional activities and publications. Anything less casts a cloud over the entire field. Claiming professional status requires acceptance of professional responsibilities. Unfortunately few in the profession are willing to make that commitment.

Nuf sed.