Ward Churchill, a former University of Colorado Boulder professor known for his scholarship on Native American history and a controversial 9/11 essay, died of a stroke on Aug. 11, 2026, at 78, CBS Colorado reported.
Before 2005, Churchill taught and wrote at the University of Colorado Boulder about Native American history and genocide studies—the study of mass killing and persecution. His work included a contribution to the Encyclopedia of Genocide.
After drawing little initial attention, Churchill’s essay Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens became the center of a national controversy in 2005. It argued that the Sept. 11 attacks were a response to a long history of U.S. abuses and called some World Trade Center victims “little Eichmanns,” intensifying a debate over free speech and academic freedom.
In March 2005, a University of Colorado review found Churchill’s essay and other public comments protected speech under the Constitution. It separately referred allegations of plagiarism, misuse of others’ work and fabrication for further investigation as possible research misconduct.
In 2006, three faculty committees found falsification, fabrication and plagiarism in Churchill’s scholarly work. The Board of Regents dismissed him in 2007 for conduct below the university’s minimum standards of professional integrity.
After his dismissal, a Denver jury found in April 2009 that the university had wrongfully terminated Churchill and awarded him $1 in damages, but did not restore his position. The Colorado Supreme Court upheld rulings granting the regents legal immunity in September 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in April 2013, ending his legal challenge to the firing and leaving the dismissal intact.
