Yet another faculty member has been fired from Collin College. Last week Thursday, Dr. Lora Burnett was fired for being “insubordinate.” Burnett joins the ranks of Dr. Suzanne Jones and Audra Heaslip who were fired for joining an educational association and for bringing up faculty concerns about going back to in-person classes for the Fall semester.
Before a crowded Board of Trustees meeting last night, activists, students, education rights organizers, and faculty came out to protest.
Others spoke at the meeting, telling the Board of Trustees why the professors should be reinstated and how the College’s reputation was being tarnished by the firings. Not one speaker backed up the College’s termination of the professors.
During the meeting, Stacy Arias, one of the two female board members, spoke of being unable to attend previous meetings because she has lupus and is the primary caregiver of two elderly parents, one whom was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She has also suffered from two bouts with COVID. The chairman of the Board of Trustees Bob Collins has often not warn at mask at meetings, which undermines the College’s policy that students, faculty, staff, and visitors to any of the Collin campuses must wear masks.
Fortunately, for the residents of Collin county, a board election for three places, including Collins’s, will take place in May. The three candidates who are running against the incumbents all support the reinstatement of the faculty. Two of them, Jacoby Stewart and Helen Chang spoke at the Board of Trustees Meeting. All three candidates are people of color.
In other news, a Texas state lawmaker is advocating for passing legislation to enact a patriotic education program not unlike Trump’s 1776 project.
When will it end?