CU to Ward Churchill: Let the revenge begin

Judge Larry Naves' decision not to reinstate Ward Churchill to his position at the University of Colorado at Boulder has emboldened CU in a big way. The school's attorney revealed yesterday that Churchill will be billed ten grand or so for costs incurred while fighting his wrongful-termination lawsuit. Hard to...

By Michael Roberts

July 9, 2009

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Judge Larry Naves' decision not to reinstate Ward Churchill to his position at the University of Colorado at Boulder has emboldened CU in a big way. The school's attorney revealed yesterday that Churchill will be billed ten grand or so for costs incurred while fighting his wrongful-termination lawsuit.

Hard to believe that CU really expects to get dime one of this amount -- and even if Churchill is ultimately forced to pay, the sum will probably be dwarfed by the legal costs incurred while trying to pry it out of him. So why bother? Well, Churchill has inflicted loads of lousy publicity on the institution for several years now -- at least from CU's perspective. And the bad PR continues on HBO, which is airing Shouting Fire: Stories From the Edge of Free Speech, a documentary that makes the folks lobbying for Churchill's ouster look downright McCarthyite. This is one way for CU to return the favor.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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