Missouri educator fired over role in protests files appeal

Click's statement came a day after the American Association of University Professors announced that three members would visit the Columbia campus later this month to investigate the process leading to Click's firing and whether it violated her right to due process and "whether conditions for academic freedom and tenure at the institution are sound."

In voicing support of 45-year-old Click's firing, top university administrators cited her run-ins with police during October protests in Columbia and with two student journalists weeks later on the Columbia campus, including a videotaped confrontation where she called for "some muscle" to remove a videographer from the protest area.

The protests, spurred by what activists said was administrators' indifference to racial issues on campus, prompted the Columbia chancellor and system president to resign after the protests escalated, with one student's hunger strike and an announcement by members of the football team that they would refuse to play.