CHENEY, Spokane County — A Colorado professor whose formal visit was canceled because of safety concerns criticized administrators yesterday on the Eastern Washington University (EWU) campus, where he spoke after a compromise was reached.

Ward Churchill, whose remarks comparing some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi war criminal touched off a firestorm and prompted calls for his firing, was a guest of EWU's Native American Student Association.

Scores of uniformed police officers stood by as Churchill told about 500 students gathered at the university's outdoor mall that his appearance was a victory for their free-speech rights.

Churchill earlier had gone to a federal court to try to force the university to rescind its cancellation of a planned speech. Instead, Churchill was allowed to lecture ethnic-studies classes and speak at the Native American Awareness Week rally.

"It was stated clearly, and in English, that the administration's posture here, in attempting to cancel [the formal speech] ... carried clear implications of unconstitutional prior restraint of speech," Churchill said.

"The job assignment of any academic institution ... is to see to it that the academic mission of the institution is fulfilled, not to prevent it, not to shape it to the purposes of their funders," he said, calling security concerns "bogus."

Churchill's remarks were received with polite applause, though a few boos could be heard.

EWU President Stephen Jordan in February canceled a scheduled speech by Churchill, a Colorado ethnic-studies professor, because of security concerns over Churchill's writings comparing some World Trade Center victims to Adolf Eichmann, an architect of the Nazis' "final solution" for European Jews during World War II.

U.S. District Judge Frem Nielsen early yesterday denied a motion for a temporary restraining order sought by Scott Wheat, a Cheney attorney representing Churchill and several Native American students. Nielsen said there was not enough time to schedule hearings.

The plaintiffs wanted the university to make available the same Pence Union Building that adult-film star Ron Jeremy had used earlier this year. Instead, Churchill lectured ethnic-studies classes in a hall one floor below Jordan's office, then spoke for about 15 minutes at the rally outside.

"He was invited by a faculty member to speak to his class," Rey said. "That is above the purview of what the administration would normally be involved in. It starts getting into the area of academic freedom."

Rey said university officials still had concerns about security but also thought Churchill's free-speech rights should be preserved.

"We took it very seriously," Rey said of the potential security issue, noting that Churchill had said he had received hundreds of death threats.

Last month, University of Colorado officials said the First Amendment bars them from firing Churchill for his writings, but he remains under investigation for alleged plagiarism and falsely claiming to be an American Indian.