University of Missouri professor remains employed during investigation into class comments

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A University of Missouri professor remains on the payroll as a civil rights investigation of his comments during an online class Monday gets underway.

Joel Poor, an associate teaching professor in the Trulaske College of Business, remains on the MU payroll but has been assigned other duties, the university said in a statement.

The Office of Civil Rights and Title IX is investigating Poor after comments he made during a class Monday, an MU spokesman said.

A video was shared widely on Twitter on Monday -- the first day of classes at MU -- showing what were apparently introductions of students in one of his classes. When one student says he is from Wuhan, China, Poor appears to joke about needing to go get a mask.

Wuhan is where the first COVID-19 outbreak was identified.

"He will be provided due process," MU said of Poor in its statement Tuesday.

A petition on the Change.org website demanding Poor keep his job had more than 4,400 signatures Tuesday afternoon.

Poor did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Classes on the campus opened Monday with about 31,000 students, an increase of 4 percent over the first day of fall 2019. MU reported Monday that 159 students living in Boone County have active cases of COVID-19.