UM Curator Yvonne Sparks resigns amid Click controversy
COLUMBIA - The University of Missouri Board of Curators announced Wednesday night curator Yvonne Sparks resigned just two months after her appointment.
Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Sparks to the board in November.
In a UM System statement, Sparks said, "After careful consideration of the demands of my professional obligations and those required to engage in the work of the Board at the level that I expect of myself, I have concluded that it is not possible to do both well."
Sparks' term had not yet been confirmed by the Missouri Senate.
Sparks said this is an important time for the UM System and her role should be filled with someone who can devote themselves to the job.
The announcement of Sparks' resignation came on the same day as a Board of Curators meeting in which the board decided to suspend MU assistant professor Melissa Click. Click faces third degree assault charges for an incident on Nov. 9 in which she was recorded calling for "muscle" to remove a student journalist from a campus protest area.
Sparks' resignation and Click's suspension were announced within minutes of one another.