Green River College Removes President

Green River College trustees announced this week they voted to terminate President Suzanne Johnson’s contract following a budget crisis that prompted campus wide cuts, KUOW reported.

The college’s budget deficit climbed to a projected $14.2 million last year, prompting Johnson to call for a hiring freeze and 5 percent cuts across every division, though a spokesperson told the NPR affiliate that Green River has since achieved a balanced budget. But Johnson was ousted amid the fallout when the board terminated her contract ahead of a scheduled no-confidence vote.

Faculty quoted in the report argued she was too slow to act on financial challenges and not transparent enough about the college’s budget squeeze.

The radio station noted that the Board of Trustees did not specify why Johnson’s contract was terminated and credited her with increasing bachelor’s degree offerings and enrollment at the public community college in Washington state, which she led for nearly a decade. Trustees praised her for leading the college through the coronavirus pandemic with “a steady hand while consistently demonstrating compassion, understanding, and care for our campus community.”

The board appointed vice president of college relations, George Frasier, as interim president.