Ward Churchill, the professor who once likened victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks to “little Eichmanns,” did plagiarize, falsify, and fabricate material in his own research, a University of Colorado investigation has found. The finding moves the university one step closer to firing the controversial professor.

A five-member investigative committee, which released its 125-page report this afternoon, found that Mr. Churchill had engaged in a pattern of misconduct, showed a “recurrent refusal to take responsibility for errors,” and repeatedly demonstrated a “willingness to blame others for his troubles.”

Committee members agreed unanimously that the misconduct was serious, but they could not agree on the appropriate punishment.

The university has affirmed Mr. Churchill’s right to free speech, but it convened the committee in response to accusations that called into question his research in the aftermath of his comments about the terrorism victims (The Chronicle, September 23, 2005).

A longer article about the committee’s report, and its possible implications for the fate of Mr. Churchill, will appear tomorrow on this Web site.