Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Ward Churchill files court documents on why he should be rehired

Good Morning:

If anyone is interested in reading Ward Churchill’s response to the University of Colorado-Boulder on why he should be rehired, here is the brief filed June 1 on his behalf.  The lawyers on both sides are expected to have a meeting with the judge next week to determine what main arguments will define the reinstatement hearing scheduled for July 1. Churchill is a former CU professor who was fired in 2005 for research misconduct. A jury recently found he was wrongfully terminated for an essay he wrote about victims in the World Trade Center bombings of Sept. 11, 2001.  They awarded him $1 in nominal damages. Now, Churchill wants his job back.

See my previous post for more links on the Churchill v. University of Colorado case. Native leaders and scholars have submitted affidavits in opposition to Churchill’s rehiring.

Jodi Rave

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.