G&R Episode 69: Professors fired from Collin College, Retaliation in Texas - a podcast by Green and Red

from 2021-02-09T07:00

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In our latest episode, we talk with two professors with exemplary records at Collin College, outside Dallas, who were recently fired for criticizing the school's COVID policies. Audra Heaslip and Suzanne Jones (@Sesjones), both longtime professors, questioned President Neil Matkin's dismissal of COVID concerns, his insistence on returning to in-person classes, and his refusal to create a COVID dashboard. Matkin also withheld information from the campus community about a faculty member who had died from COVID for weeks. And he cited Heaslip's and Jones's membership in the Texas Faculty Association, an education union, as a reason for their termination. Heaslip and Jones were looking out for the safety and health of the campus community and were fired for making Collin look bad, as Matkin told them. At Collin College, concern over COVID, being in a union, and expressing your right to free speech can get you fired.

We also pay tribute to legendary Pittsburgh folksinger, union maid and hell raiser Anne Feeney who passed away last week from complications related to COVID-19.