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In the past week, the University of Colorado has been at the center of a fierce debate that has raised a fundamental question: what are the boundaries of free expression, academic freedom and tenure protections? This question is especially salient in the face of the most offensive - the most appalling -- political expression, such as many of Professor Ward Churchill's comments in his essay regarding the events of September 11.

Six presidential science advisers are slated to speak at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005, beginning with a Feb. 14 event featuring John Marburger, current White House science adviser to President George W. Bush.

Editors: A complete schedule of events is posted as a pdf file at http://www.colorado.edu/cu-diversity/summit.html . The University of Colorado at Boulder will mark the 10th anniversary of the annual Campus Diversity Summit, "Wake Up! Diversity is Now!" on Feb. 9-10. Sessions are designed to promote dialogue and unity among diverse members of the community and to address educational goals for the future. All events are free and open to the public.

MEDIA ADVISORY The University of Colorado Board of Regents will hold a special meeting on Thursday, Feb. 3, on the Fitzsimons campus in Building RC-1 North Tower. The board will convene in the Hensel-Phelps Auditorium at 3 p.m. and immediately go into executive session. A public meeting will follow the executive session. The special meeting was called to consider the recently publicized comments of Professor Ward Churchill of the department of ethnic studies at CU-Boulder. For more information call (303) 492-6206. DIRECTIONS

Note to Editors: Members of the press are invited to attend without charge. To arrange, call Maralyn Mencarini at (303) 492-3258. The University of Colorado Real Estate Council's 2005 conference -- "Bright Future?" -- will be held Wednesday, Feb. 23, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Denver Marriott City Center.

Ward Churchill, chair of the ethnic studies department at the University of Colorado at Boulder, today offered his resignation as department chair in a letter to Arts and Sciences Dean Todd Gleeson and Gleeson accepted his resignation, effective Jan. 31. Churchill will continue as a member of the faculty in ethnic studies.

University of Colorado at Boulder Distinguished Professor William Wood has received the American Society for Cell Biology's top education award, the seventh annual Bruce Alberts Award for Distinguished Contributions to Science Education. A professor in CU-Boulder's department of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, Wood was honored for his ongoing efforts to promote science-based teaching methods. He also was cited for his 1974 textbook, "Biochemistry: A Problems Approach," that still is considered a revolutionary textbook by the science education community.

NBC News correspondent Tom Costello will present "Television News in 2005: The 24/7 Challenge to be Smart, Accurate and Fair" on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 4 p.m. in Old Main Chapel at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

A 19-year-old student at the University of Colorado at Boulder was injured in a fall from a second-floor roof of Farrand Residence Hall on campus early Sunday morning. Michael Ocasio, a freshman from Colorado Springs, apparently climbed out his fourth-floor window onto a third-floor roof at about 2:15 a.m. He apparently lost his balance and slid to a second-floor roof before falling about 25 feet to the ground. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the accident.

The Board of Â鶹ÒùÔº will convene a special meeting of the Board, Thursday, February 3, 2005 on the CU Fitzsimons campus. This special meeting was called by Board Chair Jerry Rutledge, Vice-Chair Gail Schwartz and board members Steve Bosley, Cindy Carlisle, Michael Carrigan, Pat Hayes, Tom Lucero, Paul Schauer, and Peter Steinhauer.