After more than a month of reprehension toward MU leaders, Missouri lawmakers Thursday commended the UM System Board of Curators for its decision to terminate the assistant professor at the center of fall protests on the University of Missouri campus.
The curators voted 4-2 to dismiss Melissa Click, an assistant professor of communication, in an executive session Wednesday night.
The Board of Curators suspended her from teaching on Jan. 27, pending an investigation conducted by the St. Louis law firm Bryan Cave. Investigators reviewed paperwork and video, and more than 20 people, including Click, were interviewed as part of the investigation.
House Speaker Pro Tem Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, praised the curators' decision on Thursday.
"It has been a long process, but MU made the correct decision in firing Melissa Click," he said. "Everyone knows if he or she acted the way Melissa Click did toward their fellow employees and customers, they would have been fired immediately. Her behavior was unbecoming of a university professor at Missouri's flagship university, and she should be held to a higher standard," he said.
Since the legislative session began in January, lawmakers have assailed MU for its handling of Click's actions.
In early January, 99 representatives and 18 senators signed letters urging the curators to terminate Click. Boone County Republicans Reps. Caleb Jones, Chuck Basye and Caleb Rowden and Sen. Kurt Schaefer signed the letters.
MU interim Chancellor Hank Foley and interim UM System President Mike Middleton handled the situation well under the circumstances, but the curators made the right decision, Rowden said in the interview Thursday.
"Her actions were in direct conflict with everything the university stands for," he said. "This (firing) tells lawmakers they're serious about moving on."
In the past two weeks, lawmakers have taken steps to restrict the UM System budget.
On Tuesday, the House Select Committee on Budget proposed a substitution to House Bill 2003 that would cut funding to the UM System budget by $8 million, with approximately $400,000 specifically targeting MU.
The $400,000 cut would encompass the equivalent of Click's salary, in addition to the salaries of a chair in the communication department and Michael O'Brien, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Click's salary is $57,798.
The cuts were proposed in part because of "the inability to terminate employees who participate in conduct unbecoming the University of Missouri and our state," Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, said in a news release Tuesday. Flanigan is the chair of the budget committee.
On Thursday, Rowden, who is a member of the House budget committee, said he anticipates the cuts will be minimized before the budget is finalized. Click's dismissal is only one factor in the decision to cut the university system's budget, he said.
"This is one more thing to check off the list," Rowden said of Click's termination.
On Feb. 10, the House Committee for Higher Education Appropriations voted to exclude MU from a 2 percent funding increase for all Missouri universities. The measure amended Gov. Jay Nixon's budget, which proposed a 6 percent increase for all universities.
Committee chair Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, said at the Feb. 10 meeting the proposed cut is a consequence of recent campus events.
"It would be one thing if it just made state news, but this is national," she said. "It has made our university a laughingstock, and I'm trying to make people understand that we are not going to be a laughingstock."
In an email Thursday, she said she supported Click's termination.
"I'm pleased that the Board of Curators showed strong leadership with realizing that Ms. Click was causing great harm and embarrassment to the University," she said. "I'm confident that she was given a fair review and this decision resulted."
Mike Middleton, Foley and UM System Board of Curators Chair Pamela Henrickson testified before a Joint Committee on Education on Feb. 17. The leaders pleaded for time to address problems at MU, including Melissa Click's employment.
During the two-hour session, members of the committee, displeased with Click's actions last fall, questioned whether leaders were taking enough action to address Click's actions.
During the hearing, Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, delivered a formal complaint to MU Interim Chancellor Hank Foley. The complaint referenced the Nov. 9 protest and Click's use of profanity at the MU Homecoming parade Oct. 10, which was recorded by police body cameras.
Wieland tried to file a complaint to jump-start the due process hearing, but UM System spokesman John Fougere said the complaint had to come from within the university system to be valid.
Fougere said on Wednesday he wasn't aware of Wieland's position on any university committee or board.
In a statement Thursday, Wieland praised the curators for terminating Click.
"I was pleased the university set aside the politics surrounding this situation and sided with common sense and the school's administrative rules, which Professor Click clearly violated," Wieland said. "The state's university can't condone such actions from their faculty. The termination of Assistant Professor Click is a solid step in resolving what has been an ugly situation and a stain on MU and the state."
Columbia Democrat Rep. Kip Kendrick said in a statement Thursday that he opposed the Legislature's involvement in university affairs.
"The events of recent weeks have also highlighted the dangers of the General Assembly attempting to micro-manage our public colleges and universities. The legislative role is to set overall policy and allocate financial resources, not to dictate the operational decisions of individual institutions."
Reporters Zach Reger and Emily O'Connor contributed to this report.
Earlier coverage:
University of Missouri fires instructor who confronted student journalists during protests