Missouri lawmakers weigh in on Melissa Click’s status

Lawmakers in Jefferson City are weighing in on the status of MU Communication Professor Melissa Click.

Click is charged with misdemeanor assault after her actions during unrest on the MU campus in November.

Interim Chancellor Hank Foley said Monday that Click will keep her position until a task force decides whether she deserves to keep her tenure.

ABC 17 News spoke to Senator Kurt Schaefer and Representative Caleb Jones on Monday.

Both said they were disappointed that the University didn’t take action sooner and agree with the City of Columbia doing so now.

However, they also said the problem extends beyond our community.

Jones said the incident and the university’s response to it has taken the university out of “good standing” in the eyes of the nation.

Schaefer said MU officials will have to seriously consider the ramifications of employing a professor charged with the assault of a student.

“Look, I’m a former prosecutor and there are multiple ways that that you can establish 3rd degree assault and there are two of them that I can watch that video and show it’s established in there,” said Schaefer.

“I Think that the University of Missouri needs to remember their core function is to educate our students safely and whenever someone doesn’t educate students safely, they don’t need to be on the University of Missouri’s campus,” said Jones.

This comes weeks after more than 100 lawmakers signed a letter to MU officials calling for Click’s dismissal from the college.