The Erin Hart Show - Listener Forum

biffster
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it sounded like Erin just refused to approach the Ward Churchill firing with an open mind this morning. About 90% of the callers, the ACLU, Jay Marvin and myself disagree with Erin's stance. We all see this as equivalent to an illegal search: yes, Ward is a slimy person who has very questionable ethics. But the reason that his academic ethics violations were discovered was because of the backlash against his first-amendment-protected essays about 9/11.

As disgusting as those essays were, they were protected Free Speech. An investigation should've never been triggered. However, due to pressure from a number of local politicians - especially then-Governor Bill Owens- that is precisely what happened.

This whole situation could have a chilling effect on other educators. Will professors now censor themselves, in fear that speaking out would trigger an investigation into their past? Even if they haven't done anything, who would want to go through that kind of scrutiny?


Posted Jul 25, 2007, 8:17 pm