2019 Tuesday — Board of Trustees Meeting

LOCAL NEWS (Press Enterprise newspaper)

Norco College president fired after community pleads for 3 hours to keep him. The Riverside Community College District board gave no reason for its early Wednesday, June 12, vote to terminate Bryan Reece.

Norco College President Bryan Reece was put on administrative leave Monday, June 10, and more than 100 supporters rallied for his return at a Tuesday night, June 11, meeting at which the board was to vote on whether to terminate him.

The Riverside Community College District, which oversees the college, did not give a reason for the leave, Norco College spokeswoman Diana Meza said earlier Tuesday. The board listened Tuesday evening for more than two hours to Reece supporters and had not begun its deliberations as of 8:30 p.m.

Public agencies routinely do not give information about the reasons for personnel changes.

Professors, students and elected officials from Norco and surrounding cities praised Reece during the meeting, saying he strengthened the college’s ties with the community and helped all students, including LGBT students and inmates. And they criticized board members, who they alleged had rebuffed Reece’s efforts to put Norco on an equal footing with Riverside City College.

If Riverside Community College District is a family, as it claims, then the downtown campus is clearly the firstborn and Moreno Valley College is the “compliant middle child,” Norco College Anthropology Professor Alexis Gray said. “And Norco,” Gray said as the audience erupted into applause, “is the orphaned nephew under the stairs.” Gray, like many speakers, alluded to college district conflicts with Reece and suggested they occurred only because he was advocating for the college he led.

“You don’t have a problem with this man,” Gray said. “You’ve a problem with this community. Don’t waste your time. We’re Mustangs and we don’t wear saddles.”

A petition asking the board to keep Reece, started after the district put him on administrative leave Monday without saying why, had more than 700 signatures by Wednesday morning.

District officials say Samuel Lee, vice president of Academic Affairs, will serve as acting president until an interim president is appointed.

“Over the next few months, a search for a new president will be conducted,” district Chancellor Wolde-Ab Isaac wrote in a Wednesday morning email to all in the district. “During this transition period, finding the best individual to lead the college will be given highest priority. The Board of Trustees and District leadership are committed to ensuring that the faculty, staff, students, and managers are fully supported. We hope we can count on your understanding and patience during this challenging period.”

The board unanimously hired Reece, the former vice president of instruction at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, in 2016.

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My photo was taken at the meeting just after the chairperson of my department (in the white t-shirt) had spoken. The college where I teach is a pretty darn fine place to work; the majority of Norco College is more than a little upset that our president has been fired.

Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol