Ward Churchill

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni issued this report, released May 12th, asking "How Many Ward Churchills?" (pdf alert).  Excerpt:

[W]e do not mean to suggest that issues of alleged plagiarism, dubious claims of ethnicity, or inadequate credentials—problems specific to Ward Churchill—apply broadly to all academics. What we do mean to suggest is that the extremist rhetoric and tendentious opinion for which Churchill is infamous can be found on campuses across America. In published course descriptions and online course materials, professors are openly and unapologetically declaring that they use their positions to push political agendas in the name of teaching students to think critically.

Given this state of affairs, some will argue—indeed many have already—that Ward Churchill and others like him should be fired. But as we contend in the following pages, the solution is not to fire professors who express extreme views, but to expose them, to compel them to defend their positions, invite them to debate ideas, and, above all, to insist that they do their job of teaching students well and empowering them to make up their own minds.