“Now that the board has acted, House Democrats are hopeful the misguided attempts to punish the university and its students will lose traction, and the legislative focus can shift to helping Mizzou reestablish its reputation as one of our nation’s finest public universities.”

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, the Senate’s budget leader, has been a frequent critic of the university’s handling of Click. He called her firing “a step in the right direction.”

Schaefer said his gripe isn’t specifically with Click, but rather with the university’s leadership after the Click videos surfaced.

“What I’ve been pushing for is some show of responsibility from the university’s leadership,” Schaefer said. “The video clearly shows a member of the faculty committing assault on a student. That’s prompted calls from parents asking, what’s going on over there? Who’s in charge?”

Schaefer also pushed back on the idea that the Legislature has used the threat of withholding money in order to influence university decisions.

Over the past six years, legislators have continually voted for steady funding increases to the university, Schaefer said.