KANSAS CITY, Mo. ― The University of Missouri on Wednesday suspended an assistant professor who is charged with assault in a campus run-in with student journalists during protests in November.
The university system’s governing board of curators announced the move in a statement after a special meeting Wednesday night.
Melissa Click was charged Monday with misdemeanor assault and has pleaded not guilty through an attorney. Click had a confrontation with a student photographer and a student videographer on Nov. 9 during protests at the Columbia campus over what some saw as university leadership’s indifference to racial issues. Click called for “some muscle” to help remove the videographer from the protest area on the campus. She later said publicly that she regretted her actions.
The board of curators ordered its general counsel to conduct an investigation so it can determine whether additional discipline “is appropriate,” Pam Henrickson, chair of the board, said in a written statement.
Click “is suspended pending further investigation,” the statement said.
Click did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Earlier in the day, the interim chancellor at the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus spoke about the November protests during his “State of the University” speech, calling that chapter painful, but declaring that the school’s push toward more inclusivity is a priority.
