March 07, 2005, 7:44 a.m.
From George Norlin to Ward Churchill
The University of Colorado, then and now.

By Barry Poulson

The University of Colorado will now be associated with the name Ward Churchill, and with his infamous remarks regarding the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. I want to share with you a different intellectual tradition at the university, one that should not be obscured by the Churchill controversy.

I had never been west of the Mississippi before I arrived in Boulder in 1965. At the time I knew nothing about the University of Colorado, which had appointed me as assistant professor of economics. Perusing the library collection upon my arrival, I came across a collection of essays written by George Norlin, who was president of the university between 1917 and 1939, and for whom the library is named. I then tracked down some other books and essays to give me some insight into what the University of Colorado is all about.

George Norlin's life is certainly a fascinating one. He grew up on a frontier farm in the Kansas prairie, at a time when these pioneers were still concerned with Indian raids. He began his academic career teaching Greek language and literature at the University of Colorado.

Norlin was a visiting lecturer on American civilization at Berlin University in 1933. There he witnessed the rise of National Socialism, and the growing popular support for Hitler. Norlin grew to understand the threat that the Nazis posed to freedom in their own country, and to the rest of the world.

Early on, Norlin began to write and speak out against the rise of fascism. In his book Fascism and Citizenship (1934) he explained the threat that fascism poses for democratic societies, and the need to confront and defeat this enemy. This was a courageous stand to take in an academic environment in which many academics were hostile to any American involvement in the war in Europe. That would change, of course, after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Once the fascist dictators were perceived to be a direct threat to our national security, the nation quickly mobilized support behind President Roosevelt's war effort. George Norlin was then recognized not only as an outstanding scholar, but also as a patriot willing to stand up for his beliefs, even when those around him disagreed.

In his book, The Quest of American Life (1945) Norlin wrote eloquently about American institutions of democracy and the rule of law. However, he was no apologist for American institutions that violated the rights of citizens. He was willing to challenge the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado at a time when the Klan had widespread private and public support.

Then in Integrity in Education and Other Essays (1926) Norlin critiqued the institutions of higher education in America. Many of these criticisms are as relevant today as they were a half century ago. For example, he criticized the increasing specialization of disciplines, the failure to integrate different bodies of knowledge into a comprehensive world view, and the loss of a common culture and shared values within the academic community. He wrote of the conditions of character and integrity required of a scholar, a book that is well worth reading for any person who chooses an academic career.

Many years later, on September 11, 2001, I was on my way to class when one of my students stopped me and asked if I planned to hold class. I was not aware of the terrorist attacks, and when he explained what had happened, I said that I would hold class, but that he and other students would be excused if they so wished. When I entered the class I was surprised to find the students engaged in a debate in which some students were defending the terrorist attacks. One student asked me to comment, but I declined to do so and said I would think about it and respond to his question in the next class.

I took a few minutes in the next class to respond to his question. I said that I am a dinosaur who grew up during the Great Depression and World War II. For my generation there was a shared set of values that enabled us to make moral judgments. The fascist tyrants around the world needed to be defeated to preserve democracy and protect individual freedom. Your problem, I said, is that you are taught a moral relativism in which the acts of tyrants can be justified by their cultural or ethnic origins. That position, in my view, is morally bankrupt. It can be used to justify even the most heinous acts, such as the terrorist attacks. Pursued to its logical conclusion it leads to the absence of a rule of law, and anarchy.

As George Norlin so eloquently stated, our Constitution requires the protection of our life, liberty, and property. Our government, as the custodian of that law, is charged with preserving democracy and securing our liberty. In the past, our nation has mobilized behind the president when our national security was threatened. Intellectual leaders, such as Norlin, helped us to understand that tyrants who deny the rights of their citizens, also pose a threat to our own freedom.

Ward Churchill views this nation and its institutions as an evil empire that must be destroyed. In his writing he has recreated a history consistent with these views, even when this history is sometimes at odds with the facts. This is not a first amendment issue as some of Churchill's supporters argue, it is rather an issue of individual character and integrity.

I do not know what the committee reviewing Churchill's actions will conclude. I only hope that they will hold him and the entire faculty at the University of Colorado to the minimum standards of character and integrity required of a scholar, that Norlin proscribed many years ago. The two inscriptions on the Norlin library suggested by George Norlin are particularly relevant: "Who knows only his own generation remains always a child," and "enter here the timeless fellowship of the human spirit."

— Barry Poulson is a professor of economics at the University of Colorado.

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