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Finally!
The University of Missouri Board of Curators has voted to fire Professor Melissa Click, who was infamously caught twice on video trying to intimidate reporters and police during two different campus protests.
According to the Columbia Tribune:
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.”
Despite the unacceptable video footage, the last straw was really the University’s own bottom line:
Click’s employment has become a political liability for the university. The House Budget Committee will consider a spending bill next week that cuts $402,000 from the Columbia campus budget — the amount of Click’s salary as well as that of her department chair and the dean of the College of Arts and Science — and $7.6 million from the UM System’s administrative budget.
Click was also charged with assault, but can do community service to get the charges dropped.
Professor Click should have been fired the minute those videos surfaced, but better late than never. This story is a lesson to students and parents that we can have accountability on college campuses, but it takes vigilance and tenacity.
