In November, Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media at the University of Missouri, became the object of national ridicule. During emotional protests over racial and social justice on the campus that is home to one of the nation’s top journalism schools, Ms. Click berated a student filming the proceedings, insisting that he leave the area designated by students as a “No Media Safe Space.”

When he refused, she shoved his camera. “Hey, who wants to help me get this reporter out of here?” she yelled to hundreds of students milling around. “I need some muscle over here.”

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The clip was an instant YouTube hit, celebrated for the irony of a media scholar displaying ignorance of fundamental media rights. The full video shows dozens of students forcing independent videographer Mark Schierbecker out of the perimeter. He went on to file a criminal complaint against the teacher.

She offered an apology the day after the event, which Mr. Schierbecker, a 22-year-old senior majoring in history and German, called “curt and insincere.”

On Monday, the local prosecutor charged Ms. Click with simple assault, a misdemeanor punishable by 15 days in jail and a $300 fine. She pleaded not guilty. On Wednesday, Mizzou’s Board of Curators voted to suspend the teacher.

More than 100 legislators have called for her firing, while 116 of her fellow faculty members signed a letter describing her strong-arm tactics as “a regrettable mistake.”

No one likes to see anyone else lose her job, but a media professor should be an expert on — and, dare we say, advocate for — media rights. Melissa Click, by her behavior and grudging contrition, clearly has a few lessons to learn.

Here’s a chance for the university to have a teachable moment. The First Amendment gives people the right to assemble in public — and it gives media the right to cover public events. Class, and teacher, dismissed.

First Published January 30, 2016, 5:00 a.m.