At first I was really upset that Churchill may get his job back. But after reflection, while I still wish he was not going back to C.U., I think the jury made the right decision.
Here's the thing, which came from discussing this with my wife, that I think is key to this. None of the info about Churchill's poor scholarship was news. All of it had been reported previously. But every time C.U. chose to ignore the info.
If from Churchill's hate filled spewings the University was then presented with a bunch of new information that showed his horrendous scholarship, then the argument that politically incorrect speech then unearthed the reasons to fire him would be valid.
But in this case it was that Churchill's screed merely caused the University to "look into" information it already knew. And that means it was an excuse to fire him, not the reason.
Now most of us find his horrendous scholarship reason why he should not be at C.U. And we are right that someone with no regard for rigorous scientific inquiry should get the boot. Unfortunately, C.U. does not share our view and has clearly operated under a system where there is never any real review of professor's work.
The giant crime here is not Churchill, he's just an individual little douche bag. The giant crime is that C.U. is unwilling to investigate professor's who don't meet any standard of scholarship.
So don't blame Churchill, blame C.U. and an academic system that prioritizes absolute job security over competence.
