In response to the wrongful, retaliatory terminations of Dr. Suzanne Jones and Audra Heaslip, two Texas Faculty Association organizers and valued professors at Collin College, we are addressing the Board of Trustees in one voice in solidarity with our colleagues and their constitutional right of free expression and assembly.

Dr. Jones and Heaslip were fired on January 28, 2021, because they challenged their college’s COVID-19 reopening plans out of concerns for their safety and the safety of their colleagues and students. The firings apparently were also in retaliation for the professors’ active membership in the TFA advocacy group. TFA is affiliated with both the Texas State Teachers Association and the National Education Association.

The president’s shortsighted and punitive action against our colleagues is a blatant and dangerous stifling of academic freedom, shared governance and safe working conditions. We demand that Dr. Jones and Heaslip be reinstated to their positions for the upcoming academic year and for many years to come.