Embattled Mizzou Professor Gets Second Chance at Gonzaga

Embattled Mizzou Professor Gets Second Chance at Gonzaga

By: Daniel Steingold | September 04, 2016

A female professor at the University of Missouri who was caught on camera calling for the assault of a student journalist has received a second chance.

Melissa Click, a communications professor, will be teaching for the coming year almost 1,600 miles away at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA on a non-tenure track basis.

During the incident with a student videographer during a campus protest, Click called for “some muscle” to remove the journalist.

Soon after, another separate video of Click cursing at a police officer emerged.

Both videos sparked outrage amongst the campus community of faculty, students, and alumni.

Despite Click’s questionable past, a statement from Gonzaga claims that the decision to hire Click was based on “an extensive national search process that revealed her to be the most qualified and experienced candidate for the position.”

Click was fired from her post of assistant professor at Mizzou this past February, and decided to appeal to no avail the following month.

In their decision to hire Click, Gonzaga cited her “excellent recommendations for both her teaching and scholarship” and their belief that “she has learned much from her experiences at the University of Missouri and… will uphold the rigorous standards of academic excellence demanded of Gonzaga faculty and students.”

Soon after the incidents became public, Click apologized on CBS This Morning, emphasizing that she didn’t intend for any violence, but it is unclear how sincere her apology was. She refused to comment on the videos themselves.


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