Early this year SMSU in Marshall, Minnesota hosted Ward Churchill as a speaker. His talk lasted for over four hours and he addressed a large crowd. Many people asked questions about blood count and his comment was that people were not cattle. In an 8-1 vote he was terminated for his comments about 9-11. How free is speech. The college stated it needed to fire Churchill to protect the image of the school. The Marshall Independent recieved several letters to the local newspaper about his arrival. Funding for his speech was provided by the Ford Foundation.