Ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill was fired today from the University of Colorado. AP file photo | May 2006

Ward Churchill, who had vowed to sue if the Board of Regents took action against him, said immediately after the 8-1 vote was announced: "New game, new game."

University President Hank Brown recommended the regents fire Churchill after three faculty committees accused him of plagiarism, falsification and other misconduct.

Back in May, five professors, including three from the University of Hawai'i, accused the investigative panel of misrepresenting, falsifying, fabricating and suppressing evidence.

Churchill ignited a firestorm with an essay comparing some victims in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi who helped carry out the Holocaust. Churchill spoke in February 2005 at the University of Hawai'i Free Speech Forum.

The research allegations stem from some of Churchill's other writings, although the investigation began after the controversy over his Sept. 11 essay.

The essay prompted a chorus of demands for his firing, but university officials concluded it was protected speech under the First Amendment.