The latest print edition of National Review offers a blurb that details a lone positive result from the recent shenanigans at the University of Missouri.
The University of Missouri has fired Melissa Click — finally. The professor of communications in the school’s prestigious journalism school earned national attention, ironically, for clamping down on student journalists trying to record protests at the university in November. Click was caught on camera requesting that protesters employ “muscle” against their peer, and she pushed a reporter herself. Academia has its perks, though: For criminally assaulting a student, Click received a few hours of community service — not to mention the full-throated support of 115 colleagues, who signed a letter on her behalf. Whether the administration suddenly grew a spine or is operating out of self-interest — applications and donations to the school have plummeted — is unclear, but we’ll soon find out: The American Association of University Professors has announced a formal investigation into Click’s firing, citing “academic freedom” concerns. Nonsense. Neither the First Amendment nor the most expansive interpretation of academic freedom grants professors the right to assault students. There used to be schools that taught such things.