RUTHFULLY YOURS

Using its ultimate muscle and getting her out of there, the University of Missouri at Columbia fired assistant professor of communications Melissa Click because, as the official statement bluntly stated:

The board believes that Dr. Click’s conduct was not compatible with university policies and did not meet expectations for a university faculty member. The circumstances surrounding Dr. Click’s behavior, both at a protest in October when she tried to interfere with police officers who were carrying out their duties, and at a rally in November, when she interfered with members of the media and students who were exercising their rights in a public space and called for intimidation against one of our students, we believe demands serious action.

The board respects Dr. Click’s right to express her views and does not base this decision on her support for students engaged in protest or their views. However, Dr. Click was not entitled to interfere with the rights of others, to confront members of law enforcement or to encourage potential physical intimidation against a student.

The photo of an angry Click, arms upraised, macro-aggressively shouting, “Hey who wants to help me get this reporter out of here?  I need some muscle over here!” at the November rally mentioned in the statement above, quickly became a symbol of the protest at Mizzou, summarizing the out-of-control, intimidating behavior by some students and faculty on college campuses across the nation against those who do not agree with their world vision.

Oh, by the way, did you notice that Ms. Click, whose specialty is teaching communications, was attempting to halt communications and media people, whose opinions differed from hers,  from communicating?  And was communicating by force?  Is this how she was teaching communications in class?

Hopefully, by this action, the university is finally teaching its students that education is accomplished not by force, by muscle – that students have a right to learn and express their diverse ideas without being threatened by those who cannot countenance opposition.