June 28, 2005

‘Not the Right Kind of Indian’

The case of William C. Bradford isn’t quite what it seems, but it has riled up plenty of people in Indiana.

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A column in an Indianapolis paper implied that he has been denied tenure, but he actually hasn’t come up for tenure. Internet discussion suggests that he’s about to become a new conservative cause célèbre, but his views on some issues are far left and he helped defend a graduate student accused of helping terrorists. Bradford and his supporters say that liberals are running him out of town, but the institution where he teaches — Indiana University’s law school in Indianapolis — isn’t known as a hotbed of leftist thought.

What appears clear is that Bradford has published far more in his first three years at the law school than it typically expects of tenure candidates in six years. (He’s published 15 articles and finished a book that will come out this fall, while candidates are generally expected to have published 2-5 articles.) This spring, when a committee voted to renew his pre-tenure position, it was also polled on his prospects for tenure. And Bradford says that one-third of the panel said tenure was unlikely — and that he was then told privately by others on the panel that he was being punished for his unorthodox views, which were interpreted as being uncollegial.

The university says he’s doing great work — it recently awarded him a special fellowship. But he’s job hunting, and whether that’s a good or bad thing depends on who you ask.

Bradford says that past reviews were unanimously positive, and that his troubles began because his views didn’t match people’s expectations. Bradford is a member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe and as such is one of about 15 law professors nationwide who are American Indians. Much of his legal scholarship concerns Indian law and he describes his views as “radical,” saying that he calls for land illegally taken from Indians to be returned to them, and for Indian tribes to be treated more like nations.

But Bradford is not a fan of Ward Churchill, the controversial University of Colorado professor and Native American activist. And Bradford says that professors turned against him when he refused to sign a petition supporting Churchill.

“The presumption was that I’ve got to sign this thing because I’m an Indian, but I can’t do that,” he says. “I’m the anti-Ward Churchill. I’m a patriot. My ancestors were caged up by this country, but I love this country. It’s the place where we have the greatest freedom on earth.”

And he doesn’t just talk about love of country — he served in the U.S. Army Infantry from 1990 to 2001. Today, he is a strong supporter of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which he argues will lead to self-determination for people there. He writes, supportively, about the doctrine of pre-emptive war. Bradford is not, however, a party-line kind of guy, and he criticizes the Patriot Act and has helped defend a Saudi graduate student accused of using a Web site to help terrorists.

Bradford and his supporters at the law school say that his politics, and especially his support for the war in Iraq, have so offended others that he is not wanted at the law school and will face a tough road to tenure, despite his publication record and his status as a rare Indian academic. “The diversity that they seek is diversity in appearance, but not really in dialogue,” says Bradford. “I’m not the right kind of Indian.”

Other professors at the law school dispute this version of events. Florence Wagman Roisman, who Bradford says he offended when he wouldn’t sign the Churchill petition, describes herself as the most liberal member of the faculty. “I’m a person of progressive politics and I think I’m the political outlier here,” she says. “People were surprised that I was hired here and tenured here, but politics are not a criterion for being hired and promoted here.”

Roisman says she will not comment on anything that was said during the faculty’s private discussions of Bradford’s status at the law school because they are confidential.

And she says that Bradford’s refusal to sign the Churchill petition has no affect on anything, since hardly anyone joined her in signing it. She does say, however, that he should have signed it.

“I find it ironic that Professor Bradford is going to the media to complain about his status here and he doesn’t understand why academics supported a tenured professor whose tenure was being threatened,” she says. “The whole point is that people who teach — whether or not they are tenured — should enjoy freedom to express what they believe to be accurate, true or important. I don’t have to agree with Professor Ward Churchill to support him. I support his right to think what he thinks is accurate.”

Bradford, however, says that petition amounted to support for Churchill, and he won’t provide it. Noting Churchill’s notorious comment about “little Eichmanns,” Bradford says, “If you can’t figure out that the architect of Nazi mass murder isn’t the same as people who went to work in the World Trade Center, you don’t belong teaching.”

Law school officials insist that they do want Bradford to keep teaching. Rich Schneider, a spokesman for the law school, says of Bradford: “He has accomplished a lot. His work is well regarded, and this campus appreciates and admires the service of veterans.” Schneider notes that the review in which Bradford received negative votes also authorized his reappointment. And since the administration awarded him a dean’s fellowship, he says, it’s clear Bradford is valued.

“It’s perfectly understandable for him to be sensitive and concerned about his tenure review,” Schneider says. “There is a process on this campus to give Professor Bradford and anyone else up for tenure a fair shake.”

Bradford is not waiting to find out. He’ll be a visiting professor at the College of William and Mary in the fall and at Victoria University, in New Zealand, in the spring. He’s job hunting.

— Scott Jaschik

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Comments

Only in America

Let’s see now ..

Ward Churchill (apparent non-Indian, according to tribe that he claimed/claims membership to) http://www.colorado.edu/EthnicStudies/faculty/w_churchill.html

.. claims Indian heritage, gets tenured U-Colo. post, and thereby undermines the moral and legal foundations for affirmative action.

Prof. Bradford (apparently Apache Indian)http://indylaw.indiana.edu/people/profile.cfm?Id=126

.. graduate of Harvard, defends USA against foreign enemies, and is shunned some 60’s relics as being “non-collegial” ..

Only in America could this kind of inane, absurd theatre happen. You got a better country, go there.

Bob, at 9:59 am EDT on June 28, 2005

Give us a break, Bob! Prof. Bradford is one smart dude. He is working “the refs,” and using an interesting tactic in his quest for tenure: stirring things up, making (right wing) noise. He’s working the right into a feeding frenzy, and offering himself as another “victim” of leftwing despots. He is trying to intimidate the university authorities by using a prophylactic tactic against what he perceives as a threat. Two things stand out in the article. (And using the race card, I hasten to add). One, he does not understand what tenure is, if one is to judge his ideas about why Prof. Churchill should be fired. Two, he wants all tribes to be treated like nations, yet he admits a strong devotion to the nation that committed genocide against his own. I know... that is besides the point... Oh, but a point it is.

Sig, Right wing noise machine, at 1:14 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

tenure

Tenure is not just about the ability to publish and be scholarly. Tenure is about becoming a permanent fixture in the organization. You could be a wonderful contributor, however if you do not play well with others or if your presence reduces the quality of the experience for people already in the organization, then keeping you on the outside may be a good move.

Chris, at 1:55 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

collegiality

The argument that the presence of blacks/womenother minorities/etc. would degrade the experience for those already in an organization was odious then, just as the argument that persons with views with which we disagree, or ethnic backgrounds that we don’t like, cannot be tolerated within the academy is deplorable today. I’d urge those who wonder whether indeed this is about collegiality, rather than discrimination on impermissible grounds, to survey my colleagues, who are some wonderfully nice people for the most part.

william bradford, professor at indiana university, at 2:22 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

So — let’s abolish tenure and charter universities

Give us a break, Bob! Prof. Bradford is one smart dude. He is working “the refs,”

OK, dude. Then let’s (1) get rid of tenure and (2) charter universities as free-standing non-profit organizations. That would reduce the ‘noise’ you complain about (which, BTW, happens on the left — why do you think, the first thing many asst. prof’s do, is join the ACLU?). This would reduce, for the world, the Churchills, Shortells, Bradfords, et al. Then you’d have less to complain about.

Bob, at 2:22 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

Tenure process

Churchill by passed the entire tenure process because CU didn’t do its homework and treat the Keetoowah Band of Cherokee as a Nation, which determines citizenship. He cashed in on CU ignorance by playing the race card. Fire Churchill and hire this well-deserving professor of law.

Respects Nothing, at 2:48 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

Prof Bradford

Professor Bradford,

You have yet to offer any bit of evidence that you are being discriminated against. You have been given a promotion, a raise, a fellowship and have been asked to stay on. Your only beef is that you have not been offered EARLY tenure. Because you have not been offered EARLY tenure, you have gone on a rampage accusing faculty of discrimination and racism. You say you have heard the name “Clarence Tomahawk” bandied about the faculty suites; who used it? You make allegations but offer no support. What you are doing is harming the reputation of my law school and thus hurting me. Before doing this I would hope you would have more evidence than hearsay and she-doesn’t-like-me claims before making such serious, harmful charges.

IU — Indy law student, at 3:17 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

A CLEAR CASE OF HARASSMENT

To suggest Bradford violated the so-called “collegiality” in the university for refusing to sign that petition to back up Ward Chruchill is nothing but a disguise to muzzle his freedom of choice and expression.We all should respect the freedom in academe for professors to speak out on anything, no matter how disagreeable, but Churchill’s speech went over the line. To most Americans, that was insulting, insensitive, and supportive of terrorists at a time when we are still actively engaged in a war.

Regardless of his politics, which apparently has discomfited both the right and the left,Bradford should not have to kowtow to the supplications of the liberals, even knowing that his tenure would not be threatened when it comes up for consideration.

I don’t blame him for seeking other venues for his talents. Repression of his right to make a choice on his own is antithetical tothe very same freedom of speech his colleagues avowedly are seeking to protect.

R. G. LACSAMANA, M.D., at 3:18 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

Clear Case of Hypocrasy

Responding to previous post: “We all should respect the freedom in academe for professors to speak out on anything, no matter how disagreeable, but Churchill’s speech went over the line.”

So, professors should be able to “speak out on anything, no matter how disagreeable,” provided you, as the moral compass and ultimate authority of acceptability, decide it’s okay? Churchill bad. Bradford good. I get it.

1st Amendment Believer, Hyp—Hyp—Hypocrasy, at 3:55 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

Ah yes, freedom of speech is great for me and OK for you as long as I don’t disagree too much. That seems to be one of the arguments floating to the top here.

Bradford doesn’t believe he should be denied tenure even though his views are considered radical, but he says Churchill should not be teaching because his views are too radical.

Then R. G. Lacsamana makes this point: “We all should respect the freedom in academe for professors to speak out on anything, no matter how disagreeable, but Churchill’s speech went over the line.”

Just where that line should be seems to depend on which side you’re standing on.

Neil Ralston, at 4:13 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

WHAT ABOUT COMMON SENSE?

In response to the above two comments, drawing a line between what is acceptable and what is not in speech may not be easy.But like pornography, which is hard to define, you know it when you see it , as one SC justice famously said.

I think they call that common sense, which unfortunately some people do not have.

R. G. Lacsamana, M.D., at 6:06 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

How much is ‘too much?’

Jon Stewart once did this routine involving bin Laden greeting his followers with “hi, how are you, death to America .. death to America .. death to America ..”

Mr. Stewart obviously was trying to be funny. But for someone with Hell’s Kitchen relatives who survived 9/11, hearing “death to America, death to Israel” and its linguistic equivalents gets to be tedious, annoying, and legal grounds for a fist-fight.

You have 1st Amendment rights — you haven’t been exempted from the consequences of your words. Don’t expect people that you have offended to stand idly by, after having paid for the platform of your verbal poison. As Dave Chappelle might say, “get real, fool.”

Bob, at 9:36 pm EDT on June 28, 2005

NYTimes: On American Indians & U.S. military service

From today’s NYTimes, dateline Ward Churchill-ville, Colo. —

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/29...ion/29limerick.html?pagewanted=print

June 29, 2005 Live Free and SoarBy PATRICIA NELSON LIMERICK

Boulder, Colo.

A week ago, at the conference of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) meeting at the Morongo Casino Resort, the evening banquet opened with a ceremony that begins most formal Indian gatherings. Several Indian men, often military veterans, march in with flags and place them on the stage. The American flag leads the procession. Last week, the Ute Mountain Ute Indian leader Ernest House carried in the Star-Spangled Banner, and then stood and faced it, as if reunited with a treasured comrade. After the others had left the stage, he gave the flag an intense salute and parted from its company.

Bob, at 5:46 am EDT on June 29, 2005

American Indians and the US military

American Indians are indigenous to this continent. It’s not that American Indians assimilate, but rather, they take something and make it their own (often called Indianizing) in order to comprehend it. This is country ours first, why wouldn’t we want to defend it, mourn those who die on its soil, and constructively criticize governmental policies both domestic and foreign? We are not as simple as most people want us to be. One might consider us to be anomolies, just like Prof. Bradford.

Respects Nothing, at 12:55 pm EDT on June 29, 2005

“Not the right kind of Indian”

I share many of the same views on American Indian issues as Prof. Bradford. In fact, I might be a slight bit more radical. I have not expressed any of those views in any law review articles yet. But now that I have tenure, I am writing my first American Indian law review article.

The sad reailty is that some law schools want American Indian law professors, because it looks good for diversity. But on the same note, they do not want you to act like you are American Indian. Look the part, but don’t act the part. Be an Indian in name only.

What these schools are looking for are “assimilated Indians.” Unfortunately, the policy of assimilation, although abandoned (?) by the federal government, has yet to be abandoned by some law schools.

Cheyanna Jaffke, Professor of law at Western State University, at 2:54 pm EDT on July 6, 2005

So Roisman claims to be the most liberal at my school? That is only half true. Her politics are liberal, but when it comes to views that are not in concert with hers, then she is one of the most closed-minded people around. She may be brilliant, but she is strongly disliked by a good many of our students. Bradford is brilliant, AND admired and liked by the students. I believe what Bradford says. If you knew Roisman and not just relied upon her “excellent reputation” then you would too.

Another IU Indy Law Student, at 9:37 pm EDT on July 7, 2005

Thou dost protest too much

This seems to be a tempest in a teapot. Note that it is Professor Bradford, _not_ anyone else, who is claiming that his support for Churchill has something to do with his chances of tenure. This may simply be an instance of someone who is complicated and prickly to work with — not uncommon among academics. “Collegiality” may be a smokescreen, but when you are picking a colleague for life (which is essentially what faculty do when they grant someone tenure) you want someone who you ENJOY working with, regardless of their views. Maybe, despite the enthusiasm of his students, Professor Bradford is just an unpleasant and “uncollegial” guy. Despite all the fussing about academic freedom, the reality is that academia is still a job, you still have to get along with your colleagues, and some people are better at it than others.

Interested observer, at 12:12 pm EDT on July 16, 2005

Oh, Ahhhh’s Sorry, Massah!

What an inane comment, Interested Observer (and have the guts to use your name, or don’t bother chiming in). Your suggestion—that one must essentially be willing to do whatever it takes to be accepted, and that ultimately the tenured faculty can simply reject an untenured faculty member with whom they “just don’t feel comfortable"—could and did serve as the justification for not letting blacks/women/fill in the blank into our social institutions. Political affiliation has become the new basis for exclusion, and yet IU’s own rules categorically do NOT permit evaluation of untenured faculty on any other grounds than scholarship, teaching, service. I have put together an application for tenure which the Dean has refused to forward up the chain of command, and I’ve written 17 articles and a book in my 3 years here. In the past four years, three people have been tenured with 1, 2, and 2 articles respectively. No rational person (i.e., member of a jury) could possibly reach the conclusion that I’ve been treated on the same standard as these others. I’ve won a teaching award. These others did not. The difference? These others were liberals, white and black, whereas I’m a libertarian Indian. One of my colleagues called me “Clarence Tomahawk” while denying that politics has anything to do with her review of me. She also demanded to know “What kind of Native American won’t sign a petition in support of Ward Churchill.” I told her, “How about a real one who can’t stand academic and ethnic frauds who make their living spewing the same kind of hatred that comes out of Osama bin Laden’s mouth?”

Interested observer, I challenge you to reveal your name and, if you are who I believe you to be, explain your “no” vote. I’m sure you won’t. You’re too much the coward.

How’s that for uncollegial?

william c. bradford, professor at Indiana University, at 8:55 pm EDT on July 17, 2005

Still protesting

Ouch. Sorry if I offended, Professor Bradford. Your somewhat angry and acusitory response makes it very clear that this is an emotional issue for you personally. For the record, I’m not affiliated in any way with Indiana University, this controversy, or these issues, except that I have been an academic and have seen tenure cases turn on collegiality, particularly in small departments. I completely agree that collegiality can be a smokescreen for the issues you raise, and that discrimination based on all sorts of biases has regularly plagued, and continues to plague, academia. I assert, based on my own experience, that despite this sorry history, collegiality sometimes is a legitimate issue in and of itself. That was my only point, and I thought I made it clearly. But you have confirmed my point. Collegiality clearly matters to you, since you don’t feel you are receiving it. I sincerely hope you are dispensing it.

Interested Observer, at 4:35 pm EDT on July 21, 2005

Prof Bradford and his tenure.

I have heard Dr Bradford speak a few times to credentialed audiences and was impressed by his forthright attitude and sincerity. Although there were “gasps” from some and “applause” from others about his rationale, no one has dismissed him as being boring or off-target. I’ve found him to be a worthy speaker who makes people think, and if they are not already polarized about their views they appreciated listening to his presentations. I gather because of his ideas and confidence he can become a lightning-rod, but that opinion lies within the minds of both his critics and his admirers. I’m sure his superiors are watching with quiet professionalism this he-said, she-said rapport from the persons who are taking sides in this unsual conflict. I personally wish him well for his future as he is clearly not an opionated leader and will listen to other viewpoints.

JRR, Air Force, Retired at None, at 8:39 am EDT on July 24, 2005

Thou Dost protest Interested Observer

Interested Observer you state that you “agree that collegiality can be a smokescreen for the issues you raise, and that discrimination based on all sorts of biases has regularly plagued, and continues to plague, academia you say you speak from experience,” which implies that you’re “complicated and prickly to work with — not uncommon among academics [such as yourself]” “an unpleasant and “uncollegial” guy,” and a “[has] been…academic” who is “angry and acusitory.” This is all based on my interesting observations of your own assertions.

I’ve never met Professor Bradford, but I have talked with him over the phone and he has shown more respect, consideration, kindness, and open mindedness than you or Churchill ever will, even though our politics are not the same. Oh, and let’s not forget, Churchill by passed the tenure process and like you he’s “complicated and prickly to work with , an unpleasant and “uncollegial” guy,” and a “[wannabe]…academic” who is “angry and acusitory.”

Respects Nothing, at 12:54 pm EDT on July 24, 2005

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