U. of Missouri professor under fire in protest flap

Show Caption Hide Caption Mizzou students revolt, professor under fire University of Missouri professor, Melissa Click, is seen in a student video calling for "muscle" to remove a journalist from a protest site, as the students rally around him.

The University of Missouri's journalism school praised a student journalist Tuesday after he stood his ground and asserted his First Amendment right to take pictures of a campus protest, despite aggressive pushback from a mob of students and faculty members.

Video of the confrontation with the journalist, Tim Tai, went viral as the school distanced itself from a professor, Melissa Click, who was seen in the video calling for "muscle" to remove another journalist from the protest site. Late Tuesday night, Click resigned her courtesy appointment with the journalism school, although she remains an assistant professor at the university.

"The Missouri School of Journalism is proud of photojournalism senior Tim Tai," said David Kurpius, dean of the Missouri School of Journalism. "The news media have First Amendment rights to cover public events. Tai handled himself professionally and with poise."

Click apologized Tuesday afternoon through a statement issued by the school: "I have reviewed and reflected upon the video of me that is circulating, and have written this statement to offer both apology and context of my actions."

She said she spoke to one of the reporters over the phone and apologized. "I believe he is doing a difficult job, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with him."

In the video, Click, an assistant professor of mass media at the university, is seen attempting to grab the camera of a student-journalist, Mark Schierbecker, and asking for help in physically removing him.

"She continued to verbally harass me from the sidelines (of the protest)," Schierbecker told USA TODAY. "What I saw coming from her seemed to be the worst kind of abuse I saw that day. To later find out that it was coming from a faculty member…directing people on her behalf to do violent things to students…we can't have that."

Schierbecker said that he met with Click in her office on Tuesday.

After the meeting, he said “the apology is lacking.”

“I don’t have the confidence to say that Click is being sincere,” he told USA TODAY. “Much more needs to be done before we can move forward.”

Click expressed remorse when she met with journalism faculty on Tuesday night, and said that she not recall pushing Schiebecker as the video shows, said Esther Thorson, associate dean of graduate studies and research at the journalism school. Click also told the faculty members, who were weighing whether to revoke her courtesy appointment with the journalism school, that she had received more than 2,000 threatening e-mails since Monday's incident.

"She said she felt threatened by (Schierbecker)," said Thorson, who attended the meeting. "I asked, 'Did you push him?' She said that she didn't remember, that she thought she held up her hand. She said she felt that she and the students were being aggressed upon."

According to a university bio, Click serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication. "Her work in this area is guided by audience studies, theories of gender and sexuality, and media literacy," the bio states. "Current research projects involve 50 Shades of Grey readers, the impact of social media in fans’ relationship with Lady Gaga, masculinity and male fans, messages about class and food in reality television programming, and messages about work in children's television programs."

Just days before the protest, Click had gone on her Facebook page to solicit the media's help in covering the event, saying, "Hey folks, students fighting racism on the MU campus want to get their message into the national media. Who among my friends knows someone who would want a scoop into this incredible topic? This story involves the failure of administrators, a student on day 6 of a hunger strike, and creative, fearless students. If you can help, please let me know!”

Monday's incident began when Tai, who is on assignment from ESPN, tried to take photos of protesters gathered in tents on Carnahan Quad of the campus in Columbia. Tai was blocked and pushed back by protesters as he sought to stand his ground and claimed First Amendment rights to document the event on public grounds.

The protesters, whose demonstrations have led to the resignation of the university president, claim that the area is a "safe space" and used arm-linked students to form a line that keeps out journalists and others from the tents.

"The First Amendment protects your right to be here and mine," Tai can be seen telling a protester in the video.

The video quickly spread on social media, triggering kudos from First Amendment advocates who sided with Tai and a pushback from those sympathetic to the protesters' cause of fighting racism on campus and skeptical dealings with the press.

"Mr. Tai was correct when he told the protesters that he has a First Amendment right to photograph in a public space, just as the activists have a First Amendment right to protest there," said John Hughes, president of the National Press Club. "The National Press Club calls upon the University of Missouri to make clear to its students and staff that reporters should not be kept from doing their jobs--and certainly not through physical force or threats. In the home of one of the world's great journalism schools, such behavior cannot be tolerated."

On Monday, University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe and University of Missouri-Columbia Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin resigned amid the demonstrations on campus.

Click was appointed to sit on the Student Publications Committee at the University of Missouri in September 2013. Her appointment on the student-faculty board, which is charged with making recommendations on the operations of the student-run newspaper The Maneater, is set to expire in August 2016.

Kurpius noted in his statement that Click is not a professor in the Missouri School of Journalism, but a member of the Department of Communication in the College of Arts and Science. "In that capacity she holds a courtesy appointment with the School of Journalism. Journalism School faculty members are taking immediate action to review that appointment," he said. Later, he tweeted that she had resigned from the courtesy appointment.

The Department of Communication also issued its own statement Tuesday, condemning intimidation of journalists but declining to comment on Click's status. "We applaud student journalists who were working in a very trying atmosphere to report a very significant story," it said. "We reiterate our commitment as communication scholars to the transformative power of dialogue."

Major Brian Weimar, a spokesman for the University of Missouri Police Department, said that Click filed a report with campus police, saying she has faced threats and harassment since the incident with the journalists.

Kurpius noted in a CNN interview that the anonymous social media app, Yik Yak, has been buzzing since Monday's resignations with people "who are being very hurtful and we're hearing a lot of people from the fringe that does not help the conversation go well. " On Tuesday evening, the outgoing chancellor Loftin posted on Twitter that campus police are aware of social media threats and have increased security.

MUPD is aware of social media threats and has increased security. Call 911 immediately if you need help. — R. Bowen Loftin (@bowtieger) November 11, 2015

Tai, who was taken aback by the development, tweeted he was troubled by the threats. "I'm a little perturbed at being part of the story, so maybe let's focus some more reporting on systemic racism in higher ed institutions," he tweeted. "My personal intention has never been to vilify the people in the video and I'm not sure why anyone thought it was OK to send them threats."

The student body was sent a mass email on Tuesday, asking students to report “hateful/and or hurtful speech” to campus police.

“Delays, including posting information to social media, can often reduce the chances of identifying the responsible parties,” the e-mail said. “While cases of hateful and hurtful speech are not crimes, if the individual(s) identified are students, MU's Office of Student Conduct can take disciplinary action.”

Another woman seen berating Tai in the video has been identified as the university’s director of Greek Life, Janna Basler.

A statement from three Greek councils on campus — the National Pan Hellenic Council, Panhellenic Association and Intrafraternity Council — said on Tuesday that the councils continue to support Basler, noting that she has a track record for advocating and defending marginalized students.

“We understand the importance of upholding students’ First Amendment rights and were disappointed in the video uploaded yesterday, but we do not feel as if her actions at that time were reflective of her intentions to support students,” the coalition said in a statement. “Our hope is that students, Mizzou staff, and others following this story nationwide take into consideration her success in the position, her character and her unwavering support for her students.”

Activists were no longer confrontational with the media on Tuesday and removed yard signs warning the media to stay away from a grassy area of campus that has served as an impromptu campsite for the protesters in recent days, according to the Associated Press. Concerned Student 1950, a group which led the protests, put out fliers titled "Teachable Moment" that encouraged demonstrators to cooperate with the media, AP reported.

"The media is important to tell our story and experiences at Mizzou to the world," the flier read, according to AP. "Let's welcome and thank them."