GOP lawmakers call for firing of Mizzou professor who called for 'muscle'

More than 100 Missouri Republican lawmakers are calling for the firing of a University of Missouri assistant professor and a staff member who received nationwide attention after a video captured the two women attempting to intimidate student journalists at the site of a campus protest in November.

Eighteen state senators and 99 House members signed letters to top administrators of the University of Missouri System and its flagship campus in Columbia, charging that communication assistant professor Melissa Click "failed to meet the obligations she has to her supervisors, fellow professors, University students, and the taxpayers of Missouri" when she called for "muscle" to help her remove a student journalist from the protest site.

In addition to calling for Click's ouster, the senators also called for the firing of Janna Basler, the university's assistant director of Greek Life, who appears in a video to have physical contact with a student photographer. In that same video, Click appears to grab at a camera carried by student journalist Mark Schierbecker and calls for help to remove him from a protest site on campus.

The protests, which were triggered by African-American students' concerns that administrators were doing too little to address racism on campus and included a strike by Mizzou's football team, led to the resignations of UM system president Tim Wolfe and chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.

"The fact that, as a professor teaching in the communication department and school of journalism, she displayed such a complete disregard for the First Amendment rights of reporters should be enough to question her competency and aptitude for her job," the lawmakers wrote. "It should be evident that these actions are inappropriate, illegal and unacceptable for a faculty member of the University of Missouri."

In response the Republican lawmakers, colleagues of Click released a letter on Tuesday that was sent to university officials last month in which they expressed support for Click. The letter, which was signed by more than 100 university faculty members, notes that Click expressed remorse for her actions soon after the incident. They added that her actions "constitute at most a regrettable mistake."

"We believe that Click has been wronged in the media by those who have attacked her personally and have called for her dismissal," the letter said. "We affirm our support of her as a colleague, a teacher, and a scholar, and we call upon the University to defend her First Amendment rights of protest and her freedom to act as a private citizen."

State Rep. Caleb Jones, a GOP lawmaker from Columbia, said that he and colleagues began gathering signatures last month but decided to make their effort public on Monday after gaining support from more than 100 lawmakers.

"It's imperative that the university act swiftly to remove her from her position," Jones said.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, a Democrat, said he doesn’t agree with the intent of the letter, because it attempts to "micromanage" the university. But he said he does agree that Click’s behavior was outrageous.

“Anybody who saw that video… I can understand how completely unacceptable her behavior was. The fact that people are upset, I’m okay with that,” Nixon said.

U. of Missouri professor under fire in protest flap

Click, who does not have tenure, resigned her courtesy appointment in the journalism school the day after the incident but remains an assistant professor of communication at the university.

In the letter, the GOP lawmakers also raise questions about Click's research. According to a university bio, Click's "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."

Missouri controversy highlights academia's free speech struggle

"While we recognize there may be some value in pop culture studies, her behavior has the public questioning her 'research' and her unacceptable actions during the protests," the lawmakers wrote.

In the faculty letter, Click's colleagues praised her, writing she has "earned her position through an outstanding record of teaching and research."

Basler and Click did not respond to requests for comment. Christian Basi, a spokesman for the university, declined to comment on the letters.

Follow USA TODAY correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad