Melissa Click, the disgraced University of Missouri (MU) professor who was sacked for attacking a student journalist, is back in action after being hired as a lecturer by Gonzaga University.
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Click is listed on the faculty page of the university’s website as a lecturer.
Click’s firing from Mizzou was controversial, and a report released by the American Association of University Professors found that Mizzzou’s board of curators erred by not giving her due process.
The protest eventually cost Mizzou President Tim Wolfe his job, but also led to the sacking of Melissa Click.
Shortly afterward, Click appeared to push another reporter, Mark Schierbecker (he told The New York Times that she grabbed at his camera), and asked for help to eject him from the campus protest – which was on public property. Their resignations came after members of Missouri’s football team threw their support behind the protesters and threatened not to play unless the situation was resolved.
It’s hard to tell whether she is genuinely sorry for her actions.
Click won infamy nationwide for her behavior during race-related protests at MU in November 2015.
“Dr. Click has excellent recommendations for both her teaching and scholarship, which includes an extensive record of publication”, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak said in a statement.
But now, Gonzaga has deemed Click one of the “most qualified and experienced” candidates for a job in the communications department, where she will train student journalists like the one she assaulted in the fall. She has said that she would weigh her legal options but has yet to file a lawsuit. A Gonzaga spokesman said, “we’re very confident she’s learned from her experience”.
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Despite this controversial past, the administration at Gonzaga University has chose to hire Click. Do you think the administrators made this decision as a publicity stunt?
