"Ward Churchill's resignation as chairman of the ethnic studies department at the University of Colorado-Boulder was the right thing to do given the controversy swirling around an incendiary essay he wrote about the Sept. 11 attacks.

The piece - which referred to victims of the attacks as "little Eichmanns" - was written shortly after the attacks and posted on a website. More than three years later Churchill's bizarre outlook on 9/11 ignited a firestorm after he was invited to participate in a panel discussion set for Thursday at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.

By giving up his chairmanship, Churchill spares CU a ton of grief it doesn't need, given its financial setbacks at the statehouse and such episodes as binge drinking on campus. CU officials now can focus on academic and money matters, though the issue of protecting a dissident's right to free speech is surely a very real one."

Get the Story:
Editorial: CU resignation a wise course (The Denver Post 2/1)

Read the Essay:
"Some People Push Back" On the Justice of Roosting Chickens (Pockets of Resistance September 2001)

Related Stories:
College professor faces action for 9/11-Nazi essay (1/31)
Professor sparks controversy with 9/11-Nazi link (1/28)