We, alumni, community members, faculty, friends, staff, and students of Big Bend Community College, protest the continual incompetence and leadership of the College by President Terry Leas,, and the Big Bend Community College Board of Trustees.

The signs of this poor leadership are evident through the findings of a broad-based report () conducted in October 2018 by Big Bend commissioned consultant Christine Clark. The report pulled from focus groups of nearly a quarter of all Big Bend Community College staff and faculty, and raised a number of serious concerns about workplace culture that a majority of participants said are driving high employee turnover which is a disservice to the students and negatively impacts their success.

High attrition of students, faculty, and staff creates disruptions in our community by impeding progress, and have been produced in part by incompetence in the College's leadership. President Leas while getting paid over $195,800 (in 2017) has failed to act like a true college president by letting run the college. Consistent interviews from a number of those who work and have worked at the College show that Leas has not done much for the College, and is just waiting to retire when a room is named after him in the Workforce Education Center after its completion. Leas has joked about this publicly on several occasions. Leas is falling asleep on the job both figuratively and literally as witnessed by many at inservices, trainings, large and small meetings, and campus events.

Faculty and staff who have made sacrifices over many years for Big Bend Community College, and some of Big Bend's brightest and most inspiring students, alumni, and friends have spoken up against Leas' and failures in their leadership to no avail.

Rather than doing its job as a governing body that exercises authority over the president, the Big Bend Community College Board of Trustees has passively and blindly followed the president and vp, and given them glowing performance evaluations while dismissing the toxic campus environment Leas and have created. They have operated as a disengaged elite, basing crucial decisions and actions on Leas' and bias information, and supporting their worst practices.

Because of these failures in leadership, we, the undersigned, call for the resignation or firing of President Terry Leas, the resignation or firing of., and the resignation or reform of the Big Bend Community College Board of Trustees.

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