19.373 NEEDED
We, the undersigned, hereto demand the reinstatement of Melissa Click, who was sacked by the management of the University of Missouri after attending a rally against racism on campus. The petition will be delivered to The University of Missouri’s Board of Curators once the signature target has been achieved. Your support is essential to get as many signatures as possible and show our full support for this brave and outspoken teacher.
Melissa Click was involved in an incident related to racism last year. She ended up losing her job as an assistant teacher at the University of Missouri and has yet to be reinstated ever since.
Click was made aware of several racial incidents on campus site. Disgruntled students decided to organize a meeting and protest against the management’s inability to tackle these issues. Click felt that she had to attend the meeting. As soon as the management found out that Ms. Click took part at the protests, they handed her an indefinite suspension, before eventually terminating her employment contract because she ‘failed to meet expectation for a faculty member’.
During the protest, Click was recorded telling police to get their hands off students during a protest, then hugging the students and cursing at an officer who grabbed her.
On the other hand, Click believes that the
management of the university is trying to please over 100 state lawmakers
(mostly members of the Republican party) who demanded that she be removed. She
also added that her sacking was a cheap method to divert attention from the
larger campus issues. Click believes that instead of focusing on her presence
at the meeting, the university should actually try to tackle the real issue:
racism on campus site.
Click claims that this problem has been persisting for years, yet the school did not follow procedures to react to such misconduct. This is why – Click suggests – the protesters were organized in the first place.
Ms. Click and her supporters argue that the
university’s management has overstepped its authority and has infringed her
rights to due process.
I strongly feel that this teacher is innocent and that she attended the protest only because her superiors – the people in charge of making a change on campus – have only treated the issue of racism with utter indifference and complete ignorance. Her presence at the rally was thus more than justified, under the freedom of speech.
I am asking every compassionate reader out
there to support Melissa Click’s cause by signing and sharing the petition. Ask
the University of Missouri to reconsider Click’s situation and allow her to
return to class. Standing up for students’ rights is not a crime and should not
be punished! We sincerely hope that University of Missouri officials will take
our demands into consideration and will provide fair treatment for all
students, staff and the faculty as a whole in the upcoming future.