Mizzou Prof. Appeals Firing, Says She Was a ‘Scapegoat’ to Appease Conservatives
The University of Missouri assistant professor fired last month for accosting a photojournalist attempting to cover a student protest has appealed her termination, claiming that the school is making her a “scapegoat.”
Melissa Click, a media professor, courted national controversy last November when she was caught on camera trying to oust a member of the press from the “no media safe space” that student protesters had attempted to fortify on a public lawn as part of an anti-discrimination protest. “You need to back up if you’re with the media! You need to respect their space!” Click could be heard shouting on a video, which went viral.
Click told Mark Schierbecker, a student reporter for the right-wing College Fix, “You need to get out! You need to get out!” She then tried to snatch his camera, and asked protestors to provide “some muscle” to help her out. Schierbecker’s video of Click has been viewed close to 3 million times.
Lawmakers, many of them Republican, called for Click to be fired.
Click apologized and resigned her appointment with the School of Journalism, although she remained a professor with the Department of Media until two weeks ago when the MU Board of Curators voted 4-2 to fire her. She was also charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. During this time, The Columbia Missourian released a video of her getting into a loud altercation with police officers at a separate event in October.
In her statement released Wednesday, Click claimed that her termination was intended “to distract from larger campus issues,” and “will not remedy the environment of injustice that persists at MU.”
She said that the Curators had violated her due process, that the decision making process was not fair, and that they had overstepped their authority.
“In their decision to terminate my employment, the curators bowed to conservative voices that seek to tarnish my stellar 12-year record at MU,” Click wrote. “Instead of disciplining me for conduct that does not ‘meet expectations for a university faculty member,’ the curators are punishing me for standing with students who have drawn attention to the issue of overt racism at the University of Missouri.”
The AP reported:
A spokesman for the curators, John Fougere, said Tuesday that board had no comment.
Click’s statement came a day after the American Association of University Professors announced that three members would visit the Columbia campus later this month to investigate the process leading to Click’s firing and whether it violated her right to due process and “whether conditions for academic freedom and tenure at the institution are sound.”
