As this New York Times piece notes, damage control in public relations has become a cottage industry. And the latest person to go through the washing machine of rehabilitating her image is Dr. Melissa Click, the bully bitch at the University of Missouri who needed some "muscle" to physically remove someone exercising his First Amendment rights and documenting the protests going on in the university back in November.
While rightly (and astonishingly) being fired and pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault (to which she'll serve community service), she still has her reputation to save, so she's putting the word out that she's not the monster that she'll forever be on YouTube.
No dice from me. A (former) journalism and (current, still, somehow!) communications professor damn well better know that everyone has a right to document and record what is going on in a public space no matter if people there don't want to be seen. Tough shit. In the article, which was published Friday, Dr. Click says she was defending Concerned Students 1950, a black student organization that probably could have done just fine without this white woman meddling to the point where she called for violence. CS50 has a lot of valid points; preventing reporters from reporting on the movement when they curry publicity for the parts of their protests that they want people to see definitely is not one of them. And Mel Click here apparently is trying to atone for centuries of white privilege by overly protecting this group, a move that, obviously, turned into assault.
Apparently she has been suspended, but not fired. As far as I know she is still a member of the comm. dept. at Mizzou. And, at least according to this columnist at the Miami Herald, her fellow academics in Communications have defended not only her but her actions. I am skeptical about that claim; Glenn Garvin only mentions this supposed letter in one paragraph, and there is no link to it. I also question Garvin's objectivity. He bemoans weird new politically correct things that have become vogue on campuses like safe zones and students reporting on teachers they don't like. Those are weird and troubling, but he mish-mashes them together in a way that makes me believe that Garvin is nothing more than a conservative crank.
However, if this letter from the communications department is true, then I hope every single student who majored in communications at the University of Missouri switches majors, and I hope every single prospective comm student to Mizzou either selects something else or doesn't go there. Defending the shrill actions of this woman is nothing short of unfair and stupid.
Oh, and Click should have been fired yesterday. When both Republicans and reporters hate you for what you did, it's time for you to go.
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