The facts are simple: Nine charges against Ward Churchill ranging from plagiarism and historical fabrication to ethnic fraud were considered by an inquiry subcommittee of Colorado University’s Standing Committee on Research Misconduct (SCRM).
Of these, seven have been referred to an investigating committee for further investigation, which should eventually lead to recommendations to SCRM on Churchill’s fate at CU. Only two of the allegations before the inquiry committee were not passed on for further investigation, one of which was a charge of ethnic fraud, which was more than likely the right thing to do.
After all the effort we and others put into proving Churchill’s lack of Indian blood, the charge seems destined for defeat, since while proving Churchill had no Indian ancestors was merely labor-intensive, proving Churchill knew he was not an Indian is virtually impossible (I’ll leave a discussion of whether CU should be granting employment or tenure — or even a free collector’s plate with every fill-up