New memos from Blinn College show inconsistencies, delays in addressing ousted Vice Chancellor

BRENHAM, Texas (KBTX) - New documents KBTX obtained through open records requests show Blinn College contradicted its own public statements about a top administrator’s role in sexual misconduct cases.

Marie Kirby served as Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Blinn’s head Title IX administrator for more than five years. She was forced to resign in November 2025 after KBTX asked about her 1990s no-contest plea involving the sexual assault of a 15-year-old student while she worked as a teacher in College Station ISD.

Blinn College responded to a request from KBTX, stating that Kirby no longer worked at Blinn, effective Nov. 20.

What followed was a review of both the college’s Title IX procedures and its pre-employment processes, including background checks and evaluations.

Contradictory Statements

In December, Blinn College Communications Director Richard Bray repeatedly told KBTX and other media outlets that Kirby was never involved in student Title IX cases.

However, internal memos released through open records requests describe Kirby’s responsibilities differently, including:

• A “substantial role in the College’s Title IX compliance efforts, including providing supervision of personnel who handle Title IX complaints and serving as a decision-maker for sexual harassment and sexual violence complaints under Board Policy DIAA”
• Evaluating charges that a student might bring against a faculty member
• Serving as the College’s Equal Employment Opportunity officer
• Managing policies, procedures, and investigations relating to sexual harassment and sexual violence

Bray repeatedly said Kirby “was never involved in student Title IX cases” and was only “involved in the appeals process for employee Title IX” and “just employee case appeals.” He also said Kirby “had no role in Blinn’s day-to-day Title IX operations.”

Another Blinn release highlighted Dr. Adrienne McCain’s role as the manager and Title IX policy coordinator at Blinn and repeated that “Marie Kirby had no involvement in student Title IX cases.”

But a memo from Chancellor Mary Hensley contradicted those statements.

In a memo to Kirby dated Nov. 19, Chancellor Hensley told Marie Kirby she could either resign “effective immediately” by 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20, or receive a formal notice of intent to terminate her contract for good cause under Blinn’s Board Policy.

Hensley detailed a multitude of concerns about Kirby’s employment in the memo, some of which stand in contrast to the public narrative offered by Blinn late last year.

Due to her history, Kirby’s position and effectiveness in her role were, according to Hensley, “irrevocably impaired and compromised.” She highlighted the “especially concerning” reality that the College’s enrollment includes “several thousand dual-credit high school students, including students from College Station ISD.”

Hensley, who has not yet agreed to sit for an interview or acknowledged any challenges the College faces as a result of Kirby’s actions, wrote that the school’s state and federal compliance responsibilities had been “negatively impacted”, Blinn’s human resources function had been “impaired” in violation of board policies, and that the College’s “business and reputational interests” had been jeopardized.

Hensley further wrote that Kirby’s role required a person who was “credible and free from even the appearance of potential bias.”

Those concerns have not, to date, been publicly expressed or echoed by Blinn leadership, either during a public meeting of its Board of Trustees or by senior leaders through the media.

Delays in Cutting Access

The documents KBTX obtained also show it took the college nearly two weeks to remove Kirby’s access to sensitive systems and address related security concerns.

Kirby resigned Nov. 20, but it took until Dec. 3 to fully remove her access to sensitive employee and student data.

Messages from after 8 p.m. on Nov. 24, show department leaders working to erase Kirby’s presence from the website, restructure administrative regulations, and remove Kirby’s access to local and state programs.

Documents show staff were uncertain how to reassign access to retirement systems and state programs.

It wasn’t until late Monday evening — four days after Kirby’s resignation became effective — that the college first asked retirement plan providers Corebridge Financial and the Employees Retirement System of Texas to remove her user access.

An additional memorandized request to Corebridge Financial was sent from Chancellor Mary Hensley on Dec. 3, formally requesting Kirby’s access to systems be revoked.