KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The University of Missouri's Board of Curators upheld its decision to fire an assistant professor whose run-ins with student journalists and the police during race-related protests last fall drew widespread attention, the university system said Tuesday.
The board found that Melissa Click's appeal "brought no new relevant information," the university system said in a statement. The curators unanimously reached the decision Monday during a closed session. A spokesman for the curators, John Fougere, said Click stopped being paid Tuesday.
"We consider this matter now closed and are moving forward as a university and as a community," the statement said, adding that it believes that Click was "treated fairly throughout this matter."
Click's lawyer, Christopher Slusher, didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Click, whose February firing followed her suspension in January, said in a statement this month that her dismissal was unfair and that the normal on-campus procedures weren't followed. The American Association of University Professors has backed Click and said it was investigating the process leading to her firing.
More than 100 state lawmakers, mostly Republican, had called for her removal. Click, 45, had accused the governing board in the statement of "using me as a scapegoat to distract from larger campus issues."
In voicing support for Click's firing, top university administrators cited her run-ins with police during October protests in Columbia and with two student journalists weeks later on the Columbia campus, including a videotaped confrontation in which she called for "some muscle" to remove a student videographer from the protest area.
In October, Click was recorded telling police to get their hands off students during a protest, then hugging the students and cursing at an officer who grabbed her.
The protests, spurred by what activists said was administrators' indifference to racial issues on campus, led to the resignations of the president of the four-campus university system and the chancellor of its flagship campus in Columbia. 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.
EARLIER COVERAGE
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- The University of Missouri curators have rejected the appeal of an assistant professor who drew national attention for her run-ins with student journalists during protests.
The four-campus system announced Tuesday in a news release that the board unanimously reached the decision Monday during a closed session. The release said the board found that Melissa Click's appeal "brought no new relevant information" and that the matter was "closed."
Curators Chairwoman Pamela Henrickson said after the board met Monday in open session and before its closed session that Click was continuing to be paid pending the appeal.
A spokesman for the curators, John Fougere, said Click's pay ceases as of Tuesday.
Click has said in a previous statement that her dismissal was unfair and that the normal, on-campus procedures weren't followed.
EARLIER COVERAGE
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- A University of Missouri assistant professor who drew national attention for her run-ins with student journalists during protests continues to be paid while an attempt to appeal her termination is decided.
During a news conference Monday, UM System Board of Curators Chairwoman Pamela Henrickson discussed Melissa Click's status.
Last month, the curators voted 4-2 to fire Click. In suspending her in January, administrators had cited her run-ins with police during October protests and with two student journalists weeks later on the Columbia campus.
Henrickson said she had no details about what the appeal process would entail. She described the situation as "unplowed ground."
Melissa Click has said in a previous statement that her dismissal was unfair and that the normal, on-campus procedures weren't followed.