There’s at least one group that fails to understand the justice of the University of Missouri’s firing of a professor caught on camera urging students to attack one of their classmates. Victoria Stroup reports for the Washington Free Beacon.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) censured the University of Missouri over the weekend for firing former communications professor Melissa Click.
In a unanimous vote, the AAUP placed Mizzou on its censure list for the third time, which is a warning to potential faculty members that due process cannot be guaranteed at an institution. In its report, the AAUP cites “extraordinary political interference” by members of the Missouri legislature, saying it “had a significant, if not decisive, impact on the decision to terminate Professor Click’s appointment.”
The AAUP launched an investigation into Click’s firing in March, weeks after the University of Missouri Board of Curators voted 4-2 in favor of Click’s dismissal.
When asked for comment, the university directed the Washington Free Beacon to the Board of Curators’ original statement on the AAUP investigation.
“The Board of Curators continues to stand behind our actions [sic], which were in the best interests of the University, regarding Dr. Melissa Click’s misconduct,” the board said in a statement. “As the AAUP’s report acknowledges, this case did not involve a denial of Dr. Click’s academic freedom. But the AAUP’s report disregards the seriousness of her misconduct and reaches inconsistent and unsupported conclusions.”
Click was captured on video calling for “muscle” to remove student journalist Mark Schierbecker from a protest camp set up by members of Concerned Student 1950 in the middle of Mizzou’s quad.
