"Ex-professor Ward Churchill walked out of a Denver courtroom with $1, wearing a smile and carrying a piece of red cloth, part of an eagle feather prop he used while testifying and defending himself on charges of academic misconduct.

It's yet to be determined whether Churchill gets his job back at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, which fired him in July 2007 for violations of his profession, including plagiarism and fabrication.

But Churchill maintained that's not why he was really fired. He argued CU wrongfully terminated him because he wrote a controversial essay about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which he referred to those who died in the World Trade Center as “little Eichmanns,” a reference to the man sometimes called the architect of the Holocaust. A jury agreed with Churchill on Thursday. The verdict was no big surprise. Chief Denver District Judge Larry Naves will decide if CU must rehire Churchill or pay him a lump sum of money for lost wages. If the judge reinstates him, CU officials will get what they deserve.

Many of us Native people exercised our free speech more than a decade ago: We told the university Churchill isn't what he pretends to be.

I graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder, where I earned a journalism degree. While a student, I signed up for an Indians in Film class because I heard an Indian guy was teaching it. I was intrigued. I like film. And I appreciate Indian professors. At the same time, I also heard from several Native staff on campus that Churchill wasn't really an Indian."

Get the Story:
Jodi Rave: Former professor Churchill perceived as imposter by many (The Missoulian 4/8)

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