CU Churchill 2: Welcome through the Looking Glass of your local Univerisity

The Daily Camera: Sports Columnists: "Woelk: Does Barnett have less rights than professor?

January 29, 2005

Notes, quotes, queries and observations heading into the weekend ...

A question for CU prez Betsy Hoffman and her regent pals:

Just last year, Hoffman suspended a football coach for saying, 'Katie was a girl and not only was she a girl, she was terrible.'

But less than a year later, the CU administration defends the rights of a professor to call the victims of the World Trade Center attacks 'little Eichmanns.'

Gary Barnett was immediately suspended for his comments and prevented from doing a very important part of his job.

Ward Churchill, however, is protected by the First Amendment, according to CU administrators, and is allowed to continue spewing hate speech whenever and wherever he chooses.

My question is, what's the difference (other than the fact that Barnett told the truth and Churchill voiced an opinion)?

Is Barnett also not protected by the First Amendment? Or, do some folks have more constitutional rights than others? If you make Hoffman mad, does that limit those constitutional rights? Is political correctness a factor in gauging those rights?

Or, could it be that when Barnett made his statement, Buffalo Betsy's job was also on the line?"

Let's not forget that CU is a school were hundreds of students publically smoke pot in the center of the campus every April 12th at 4:12 in the afternoon.

Yeah it's the football coach who needs to be disciplined. Off with his head!