University of Missouri fires controversial professor Melissa Click

Melissa Click, the assistant communications professor at the University of Missouri who came under fire for her confrontation with student journalists during an on-campus protest last year, has been fired by the university. 

The University of Missouri Board of Curators voted 4-2 on Wednesday to fire Click, according to the Columbia Tribune, the school's student newspaper. 

The incident involving Click occurred in November during a demonstration by Concerned Student 1950, a student group that has been calling attention to racial issues at the university and demanding the resignation of university administrators. (Tim Wolfe, president of the University of Missouri system, and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin later stepped down.)

Mark Schierbecker, a student journalist, asked Click, "I'm media. Can I talk to you?" Click responded, "No, you need to get out. You need to get out."

"Actually, I don't," Schierbecker responded. Click then turned to the group and yelled, "Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here."

Click faced assault charges after the incident but those were dismissed when she agreed to perform community service. She also issued a public apology over the incident.

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But the controversy over Click continued into the new year. In January, state GOP lawmakers called for her termination while colleagues defended her. And two weeks ago, Schierbecker asked that the video of the Click incident not be used by state lawmakers as an excuse to push for cuts to the school's funding. 

Additional footage of Click from another incident surfaced several weeks ago via the Tribune, compounding previous calls to terminate Click. That footage came from a Columbia Police officer's body camera during a protest in October 2015, a month before the run-in with the student journalists. 

In that footage, Click can be seen confronting the officer who is trying to move protesters out of a street as they attempted to block the car of then-president Wolfe's car. Later, she yells, "Get your fucking hands off me!" to another officer.

Chairwoman Pam Henrickson issued a statement about Click's firing on Thursday, which addressed both incidents. She concluded: 

The process the Board of Curators used to reach a determination about Dr. Click’s employment at the university is not typical—but these have been extraordinary times in our university’s history, and I am in complete agreement with the board that the termination of Dr. Click is in the best interest of our university. Her actions in October and November are those that directly violate the core values of our university. I can assure you—as Board Chairwoman Henrickson noted—that there has been fairness in this process and investigation.

Read the entire statement below.