Melissa Click, the Missouri professor who famously advocated for “using muscle” against student journalists at a campus protest has lost her termination appeal.
Following the encounter that was captured on tape, Click was charged with third-degree assault and suspended with pay before being canned.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The board of curators said the appeal, which Melissa Click filed shortly after her Feb. 24 firing, “brought no new relevant information.” Ms. Click’s job paid $58,000, and she was up for tenure this year.Ms. Click said the firing was part of a political witch hunt and a racist backlash to the protest movement seeking greater protections and sensitivity for black students on campus. The protests eventually led to the resignation of the university system’s president.In a statement Tuesday, she said she was “not surprised” but “certainly dissatisfied” with the board’s decision. She claimed that it “appears to be designed to discourage future activism.”In its statement Tuesday, the board said, “Dr. Click was treated fairly throughout this matter, including meeting with investigators multiple times to share information as well as her opinion.”
After an extensive investigation, Click was fired from the university, but given the opportunity to appeal the decision.
According to the Columbia Daily Tribune:
According to the Columbia Daily Tribune:Assistant Professor Melissa Click, captured on video calling for “some muscle” to remove reporters from a campus protest site, was fired Wednesday by the University of Missouri Board of Curators, Chairwoman Pam Henrickson said in a prepared statement.The board voted 4-2 in favor of termination during a closed session in Kansas City, with Henrickson and curator John Phillips opposing the move, UM System spokesman John Fougere wrote in an email Thursday. Curators David Steelman, Donald Cupps, Maurice Graham and Phil Snowden voted in favor of firing Click.Click did not respond to a message seeking comment Thursday. The board earlier voted to suspend Click with pay on Jan. 27.“The board respects Dr. Click’s right to express her views and does not base this decision on her support for students engaged in protest or their views,” Henrickson said in the prepared statement. “However, Dr. Click was not entitled to interfere with the rights of others, to confront members of law enforcement or to encourage potential physical intimidation against a student.”The statement from Henrickson cited Click’s behavior at the Homecoming parade, when she cursed at a police officer who was moving protesters out of the street, and on Nov. 9 at Concerned Student 1950’s protest site on the Carnahan Quadrangle. Her actions at the protest site, Henrickson said, “when she interfered with members of the media and students who were exercising their rights in a public space and called for intimidation against one of our students, we believe demands serious action.”
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