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Ward Churchill is Neocon Test Case for Academic Purges<br><br>
<br>
(Emma Perez, Chair of Ethnic Studies, U of Colorado, Feb. 15,
2005)<br><br>
We've done some preliminary research and analysis and it's become
clear<br>
exactly what's at stake and what we're up against. CU-Boulder has
been<br>
made the national frontline of the neocon battle for dominance in<br>
academe.<br><br>
CU-Boulder has likely been made their "test case," their
break-the-mould<br>
moment in a national strategy. Their local resources and troops<br>
(thinktanks, legislative, rank-and-file followers) are already
fully<br>
mobilized and their national resources are mobilizing in our
direction<br>
(if not already mobilized), and the infrastructure they already
have<br>
here is formidable. On Ward's specific case, they are already *at
least*<br>
3 weeks ahead of us in organizing, and they are using tactics they
have<br>
been testing since the 90s.<br><br>
Some details from preliminary research:<br><br>
* The CO governor, Governor Bill Owens, is no ordinary Republican<br>
governor. He is an activist leader in their battle for higher
education<br>
through his role in ACTA (American Council of Trustees and
Alumni).<br><br>
ACTA is Lynn Cheney's organization, which hit the headlines a few
years<br>
ago for creating the rightwing National Assoc of Scholars (NAS) and
for<br>
proposing post-911 to monitor faculty nationwide for ideological<br>
(liberal/left) bias. Gov. Owens is especially active in ACTA's<br>
"Governors Project". He has already hosted an ACTA-led
conference in CO<br>
for state trustees, probably for training them (wouldn't be surprised
if<br>
some of our regents aren't in this same loop). He is already<br>
implementing the Governors Project strategy at less visible<br>
institutions. For example, last month the trustee structure at Mesa<br>
State College was revised and he appointed 3 new trustees, one of
whom<br>
is "the intermountain coordinator for the American Council of
Trustees<br>
and Alumni for teacher preparation reform."<br><br>
<a href="http://www.mesastate.edu/info/media/releases/05/New_Trustees.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.mesastate.edu/info/media/releases/05/New_Trustees.htm</a>.<br><br>
Also leading in this "Governors Project" is Pataki in NY-no
doubt<br>
connected with the Hamilton College incident that started all of
this.<br><br>
* The general strategy in forcing and then manipulating this<br>
"investigation" of Ward's scholarship shares key tactics with
the neocon<br>
sinking of Emory historian Bellesiles in 2001
<a href="http://www.oah.org/pubs" eudora="autourl">www.oah.org/pubs</a>.
There<br>
are also likely to be parallels with the campaign against Linda
Brodkey<br>
at UT in 1991 as well as other campaigns through which they have
been<br>
testing and developing their methods and tactics.<br><br>
* Besides suggesting "treason" on the part of Ward and calling
for his<br>
firing, Governor Owens has already requested Ethnic Studies' budget,
one<br>
of the most important neocon institutional targets. In a parallel<br>
de-funding move, see their successful campaign to pass H.R.
3077<br><br>
<a href="http://ga.berkeley.edu/academics/hr3077.html" eudora="autourl">http://ga.berkeley.edu/academics/hr3077.html</a>.<br><br>
Further, by going after Ward's tenure, they are essentially
targeting<br>
the scholarly legitimacy of the entire field that, through external
and<br>
internal review, granted Ward tenure. If Ward's tenure (and his<br>
promotion to Full, and his successful post-tenure review) was a<br>
"mistake," the next question is "who gave it to him?"
Ultimately, by<br>
undermining the integrity of tenure in one national field, the
neocon<br>
Right will pave the way to an attack on the very legitimacy of tenure
as<br>
an institution. CU Regent Lucero did not mince words in his public<br>
statement at the emergency meeting where the 30-day investigation
of<br>
Ward was announced:<br><br>
"My displeasure with Mr. Churchill's essay should be abundantly
clear,<br>
however, the issues regarding faculty responsibilities are still my<br>
focus. While the language in the Laws and Policies is in place,
setting<br>
the standards for faculty expectations and the grounds for discipline,
I<br>
would argue that they are subjective and dependent on the faculty
for<br>
interpretation as to whether a professor has crossed a line. I
would<br>
suggest that the time has come for a revision to the Policies that<br>
allows for other forms of adjudication that are not reliant on the<br>
faculty for determining subjectively the fate of one of their own.
(Feb<br>
3, 2005)"<br><br>
* Neocon students at CU-B (College Republicans) are likely
connected<br>
with CampusWatch and/or AVOT (Americans for Victory against
Terrorism);<br>
they are already connected with a very hostile right-wing talk
radio<br>
talk show host in Denver (that is then feeding to the national
level)<br>
and they have been using tried-and-true CampusWatch/AVOT-type tactics
to<br>
create the steady stream of racist, violent hatemail that not only
Ward,<br>
but ES faculty and students are receiving.<br><br>
* While we are confused and disoriented by the barrage of attacks,
the<br>
state legislature is already moving to get tenure changes written
into<br>
the books. The tactic is for Owens to make radical demands and push
the<br>
envelope to the right, opening up space for a conservative Democrat
to<br>
propose a more "moderate"-looking bill (Senate Bill 85, which
includes<br>
tenure law changes) that should, if they're smart, pass quickly and<br>
easily, possibly even before the next Regents meeting. Reported in
the<br>
Colorado Daily on Friday Feb 11, the tenure changes appear minor
but<br>
will be used as footholds for the next deeper round(s) of
legislative<br>
actions.<br><br>
* The CU-Boulder administration seems well-intentioned but to have<br>
misjudged the stakes and their opposition. They may have believed
they<br>
could keep control of the investigation by doing it in-house but
the<br>
Right is already outflanking them by using this investigation to
launch<br>
an ideological show-trial; it's a war of public opinion in which
the<br>
administration has already been outmaneuvered. By the end of 30
days,<br>
they could easily be backed into a corner, unable to resist the
Right's<br>
larger agenda. The Admin's investigation can find whatever it wants
(it<br>
could even decide to make no move against Ward), but by that point,
it<br>
won't matter because all the legislative momentum/power will be out
of<br>
their hands. Ultimately, the neocon agenda doesn't even have to
succeed<br>
in getting Ward's tenure revoked; the attack on Ward is only one
key<br>
piece of a larger campaign with several objectives beyond the firing
of<br>
Ward.<br><br>
* Ward is a prime target. He is vulnerable and, at the same time,
has<br>
extremely high strategic value. In terms of his vulnerability: he can
be<br>
isolated from support forces who would traditionally make it hard
to<br>
attack a tenured faculty. There are faculty who have problems with
his<br>
being American Indian or who have something against Ethnic Studies,
etc<br>
etc-these faculty will be reluctant or refuse to defend him (until
it's<br>
too late). As a revolutionary, he can be counted on to have a<br>
significant number of colleagues who strongly dislike him and will
be<br>
reluctant or refuse to defend him (until it's too late). On top of
all<br>
this, in the post-911 climate, moderates who would normally
disagree<br>
with his views but then go on to defend his free speech rights and<br>
academic freedom, will hesitate because they are afraid of being cast
in<br>
with his "anti-americanism" (much like the McCarthy period). In
terms of<br>
his high value as a target (David Horowitz has already written on
this):<br>
he's not only tenured, but he's a full prof; he's not only inside
ethnic<br>
studies but he was chair; he's not in just any university in CO, he's
at<br>
the institutional flagship of "liberalism" in the middle of a
red state.<br><br>
We have to be as clear as possible about the big picture. This is
much,<br>
much bigger than an individual attack on Ward. What we're looking at
is<br>
a carefully developed, pre-existing national strategy that has been<br>
searching for exactly the right breakthrough "test case." It
has found<br>
extremely favorable conditions in Ward's situation and in the
post-911<br>
climate. As they've been doing already in other areas they want to<br>
dismantle the structural footholds (academic freedom/tenure, ethnic<br>
studies) that social movements gained for people of color and
liberal<br>
and progressive intellectuals inside academe during the 60s & 70s.
If<br>
they are successful in Colorado, it could set a precedent like
Bakke.<br>
Raising the stakes even higher, Governor Owens has ambitions that
reach<br>
as far as the White House. The next phases of his career hang on
this<br>
crucial campaign that will give definitive proof of his leadership<br>
ability. If he pulls it off, it's a glorious triple coup-de-grace:<br>
undermine the legal foundation of tenure/free speech, hurt/ruin
Ethnic<br>
Studies...and at no less than the strongest "liberal" campus in
the<br>
state. His personal investment in this campaign is very high and he
is<br>
likely to throw his whole weight behind it.<br><br>
This is a fight to make history.<br><br>
<a href="http://www.wbai.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5021&Itemid=2" eudora="autourl">http://www.wbai.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5021&Itemid=2<br>
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