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From salon owner Shelly Luther鈥檚 to defy county directives that ordered businesses to close during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak to Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins鈥� of Gov.Greg Abbott鈥檚 lifted mask mandate, North Texas has been a hotbed for COVID-19 culture clashes during the pandemic.

四虎影院 reporters Bill Zeeble and Hady Mawajdeh have been following one of these skirmishes at Collin College over the past few months. Here's a breakdown of what鈥檚 happened so far and how a disagreement over the college鈥檚 response to the coronavirus has evolved into a fight over free speech.

Collin College News

Like many community colleges and four-year universities in America, Collin College had to halt in-person classes last March. But before the end of the spring semester, school president Neil Matkin was already working with Collin County Judge Chris Hill to bring back face-to-face classes. And during the summer 鈥� when COVID-19 cases were at an all-time high 鈥� Matkin informed the college鈥檚 faculty and staff that the majority of classes would be in-person during the fall semester.

Shortly after that announcement, Matkin sent out an email to faculty and the college鈥檚 board of trustees that shared fall enrollment numbers for the college. The email also included 惭补迟办颈苍鈥檚 personal views on the severity of the coronavirus.

鈥淭he effects of this pandemic have been blown utterly out of proportion,鈥� he said.

Then, he said the media鈥檚 reporting on the coronavirus was 鈥渞eported with unfortunate sensationalism and few facts.鈥�

After 惭补迟办颈苍鈥檚 August email, and before the semester began, longtime humanities professor 鈥� Audra Heaslip 鈥� that concluded didn鈥檛 do enough to protect at-risk students or faculty.

The resolution included several proposals, like moving as many classes as possible online, and having the faculty and staff involved in making the final decision to return to face-to-face classes. And according to several Collin College professors, about one-third of the faculty signed Heaslip鈥檚 resolution.

惭补迟办颈苍鈥檚 was cordial. But ultimately, the requests in the resolution were ignored and the school pushed forward with its plan to reopen.

Unlike a lot of colleges in the state, Collin College chose not to create an online dashboard that shared the total number of COVID-19 cases among students and staff.

Schools such as Southern Methodist University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Texas-Dallas, all created dashboards. Community colleges in Dallas, Denton and Austin also had online dashboards that were updated regularly.

"I asked could the college please make the numbers available at the very least to the employees, because the majority of employees, faculty and staff, are required to go to campus. And no one has any idea if the college is a hot spot," Heaslip told 四虎影院 in November. "Nobody has any idea if maybe there鈥檚 one case or maybe there鈥檚 20 or 200."

Despite the requests, Collin College declined to give in to pressure. That鈥檚 even after the president revealed to board members 鈥� and basically the public 鈥� that a student had died of COVID-19.

Rogelio Martinez was a working adult student who had a job and wanted to improve his job options through school. His widow had told the college her husband got infected in early October and never recovered. But the news of Martinez鈥檚 death was not shared with the board until the end of October.

The same month that Rogelio Martinez died, a faculty member named was infected after being exposed while teaching. She also died. And some on the faculty the way Collin College communicated her death.

According to emails shared with 四虎影院 by faculty members, Meda鈥檚 death was shared in an email sent to the college community with the subject line 鈥淐ollege Update & Happy Thanksgiving!鈥�

History professor Lora Burnett took to Twitter to pan the college for the way it communicated the news that a professor had been died because of COVID-19.

鈥淭his is grim,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淣one of my colleagues have been able to find out which faculty member died of Covid. So we think this may have been an adjunct. And we are sickened at how little respect our college president showed for that teacher's life.鈥�

Burnett was already in hot water with Collin College leadership because of some during October鈥檚 Vice Presidential debate.

Burnett鈥檚 statements were by Collin College鈥檚 president. And she was both for her political statements and her response to Collin College鈥檚 announcement about Meda鈥檚 death.

Keren Carri贸n

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After Burnett was issued warnings from Collin College leadership, longtime professors Audra Heaslip and Suzanne Jones were told that their contracts would not be renewed.

Heaslip was told her critical comments about the school鈥檚 COVID-19 safety protocols and the plan to return to in-person classes are to blame for her dismissal.

鈥淭he college has been really careful over the last few days to deny that I or my colleague were fired,鈥� Heaslip said. 鈥淎s if it鈥檚 a completely normal thing for someone who鈥檚 been teaching full-time more than 10 years with not a single student complaint, not a single disciplinary notice.鈥�

Jones 鈥� who signed Heaslip鈥檚 resolution and has tried to form a non-bargaining faculty union 鈥� was told she鈥檚 not having her contract renewed for using the college鈥檚 name on a petition calling for the removal of Confederate statues.

鈥淚 feel betrayed, I feel devastated,鈥� Jones told 四虎影院 in January. 鈥淚 love Collin College. I love the community. I grew up in Plano. I went to Collin College. And I love teaching.鈥�

Burnett has also been told she to teach at Collin College. Insubordination is being used as the cause for her dismissal.

More than 100 protesters showed up to a Collin College board meeting on March 2 to demand that the three professors be reinstated. About 25 of those protesters also made statements to the board during the meeting.

Helen Chang, a candidate for the Collin College Board of Trustees, told the current board that 鈥渢he ship must be righted鈥� and asked that the professors be allowed to come back to the school.

鈥淎n institution of higher learning must be respectful of different viewpoints and allow dissent, discussion and free speech,鈥� she said to the board. 鈥淪hutting down voices that disagree with yours while disregarding public health experts teaches students the wrong lessons about civics, governance and the importance of education.鈥�

Collin College professor Michael Phillips also addressed the board on behalf of the professors. And he expressed concern about the fact that Jones was told that her signing of a petition to remove Confederate statues was one of the reasons the college would not bring her back.

鈥淭his college administration wants to fire one of our most talented professors because she confronted them with the hardest truths about this state and our nation 鈥� that our past and our present are equally stained with racism,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t takes someone with courage and exceptional character, like Suzanne Jones to do the hard work of dismantling racism.鈥�

All three professors have filed appeals. Jones and Heaslip will have their grievances meetings this week. If they win those appeals, they might be invited back. If they don鈥檛 win their appeals, there are a couple other ways they can try to save their jobs. But it鈥檚 really a wait-and-see sort of game.

四虎影院 has reached out to Collin College and President Matkin for comment on multiple occasions throughout this months-long developing story, but the school does not discuss personnel matters with the media.

惭补迟办颈苍鈥檚 defenders have said that he鈥檚 being 鈥渦nfairly maligned.鈥� And some on the board feel as though Matkin understands the effect of COVID-19 better than most because he鈥檚 told them that he has relatives who died of COVID-19.

Got a tip? Email Hady Mawajdeh at hady@四虎影院.org and Bill Zeeble at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow Hady on Twitter and Bill at .

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