College text messages exchanged by Wenatchee Valley College vice presidents Lisa Harger, formerly known as Lisa Turner, and Dr. Tod Treat reveal months of ridicule, distrust and harsh criticism directed at WVC President Dr. Faimous Harrison and numerous College employees.
The messages, spanning August 2025 through January 2026, show the vice presidents exchanging commentary during official meetings, sharing sensitive information about colleagues and reinforcing one another’s belief that other administrators were failing the College.
Their friendship also extends beyond work. Harger and Treat have been seen together at non-WVC public events, and their messages document social plans involving dinner and drinks.
There is nothing inherently improper about two vice presidents becoming friends. Their relationship becomes significant, however, because their College communications repeatedly divide WVC into two groups: Harger, Treat and the few people they consider competent; and colleagues they portray as dishonest, ineffective, hostile or disconnected.
“People just lack integrity,” Harger wrote following a difficult staff meeting.
“That is quite true,” Treat replied.
The messages were obtained under Washington’s Public Records Act. Some names and content were redacted, so the full context of every exchange is not available.
Harrison Portrayed as Indecisive and Disconnected
WVC President Dr. Faimous Harrison receives the most sustained criticism.
“He can’t keep making decisions in a vacuum,” Harger wrote in October. “We have to have a team approach. I feel more segregated now than a month ago.”
“These jobs are isolating,” Treat responded, describing the difficulty of entering a meeting without knowing what “the boss is going to say.”
In November, Harger wrote that Harrison “just doesn’t get it.”
“I’m tired of hearing the same crap,” she said.
The criticism intensified in December.
“He’s afraid of the faculty and it doesn’t inspire me,” Harger wrote.
“The fear is crippling,” she added. “It’s crazy to not even be able to complete a sentence or make a stinking decision.”
During a January meeting, Harger wrote:
“For the love of Gawd! Please make a decision and tell her what to do!”
A week later, she again demanded:
“Make a decision!!!”
Treat likewise called Harrison “so disconnected” and the situation “so depressing.”
Their exchanges show that two vice presidents working closely with Harrison had developed remarkably little confidence in his leadership.
Colleagues Described as Mean, Dishonest or Incompetent
The criticism was not limited to Harrison.
During a September event, Treat referred to people seated near him as the “Mean girl collective in the back.”
“Yup!” Harger responded. “They are in full plot mode.”
Later that day, Treat described the behavior of others as “meanness.”
“I truly believe Robin is the source of it all,” Harger wrote. The message appears to refer to Dr. Robin Angotti, although the text identifies her only by her first name.
The messages provide little factual support for that sweeping assignment of blame.
Treat later complained that “Robin does not listen to me.”
Harger criticized Ellia Sablan-Zebedy for allegedly ignoring her directions and complained about Ellia’s handling of duplicative policies.
“I’m pissed and over it,” Harger wrote before saying she was ready to “check out of the shit show.”
Maria Iñiguez, Harrison’s chief of staff, was also criticized.
After Treat said a message from Harger and another official felt personal, Harger assured him that he was not its target.
“It’s Faimous and Maria,” she wrote. “Even the email response topic was about the 2 of them. But nothing seems to sink in for him.”
Harger later forwarded Treat messages from Iñiguez concerning a fiscal-director position and the movement of money between departments.
Treat responded: “Just wow.”
Harger called the process “complete BS.”
Fred Neghabat was criticized in connection with both his workplace conduct and WVC’s financial management.
“Only issue for today is Fred and his use of profanity in the wrong settings,” Harger wrote. “Another day in HR paradise.”
When Treat reported that Neghabat had swept departmental operating budgets, Harger responded:
“That is crazy! How can Faimous get behind that?”
The messages present a recurring pattern: one vice president characterizes a colleague as plotting, mean, disconnected, disrespectful or incompetent, and the other generally agrees.
Text Commentary During Official Meetings
Many exchanges occurred while College meetings were underway.
Harger and Treat commented on speakers, monitored participants’ behavior and discussed how conversations should be controlled.
“Cut him off,” Treat wrote during one meeting.
“Redirect to accreditation,” he added.
At another meeting, Harger wrote:
“We have to strike hard today.”
During a January meeting, she asked Treat:
“You ok? Your body language is loud.”
Treat responded that he would “slink back into my coloring book place.”
The messages suggest that the vice presidents maintained a text-message backchannel during official meetings, evaluating participants and sometimes coordinating their reactions while others were still speaking.
Sensitive Conversations Moved Off Text
When subjects became sensitive, Harger and Treat frequently arranged to continue the conversation elsewhere.
“Let’s sidebar after this one,” Treat wrote.
Other messages request a “debrief,” a “two legged stool convo,” a telephone call or a discreet visit.
“If you have the time, can you wander over discreetly,” Treat wrote in November.
There may have been legitimate reasons to discuss personnel or legal matters orally rather than by text. Nevertheless, the written record frequently stops just as a discussion becomes particularly sensitive.
In one exchange, Harger asked Treat not to confront Jeff about information she had disclosed.
“Please don’t call out Jeff on what I shared with you today,” she wrote. “I don’t think that helps the big picture at all.”
Treat agreed.
The exchange shows the vice presidents sharing information about colleagues and discussing how that information should be handled.
Friends Inside and Outside WVC
Harger and Treat’s alliance was not confined to College business.
They have been observed together at public events unrelated to WVC. Their texts also document plans for dinner and drinks.
Before meeting at Visconti’s in January, Harger wrote:
“I have a lot of work shit that we need to cover, but don’t want to waste wine time with work shit.”
“Agreed,” Treat responded. “See you there!”
Their friendship is not evidence of wrongdoing. It does, however, provide context for the loyalty and mutual reinforcement throughout their messages.
“I got your back,” Treat told Harger.
On another occasion, he described her as “one of the few bright spots in a really negative period of time.”
Following an unsuccessful recruitment process, Treat placed himself and Harger among the people capable of improving WVC.
“There are no saviors,” he wrote. “There are only people of Goodwill trying to do good work in the face of negative odds.”
“The people who are drawn to that, like you and me apparently, will appear.”
The exchange captures an attitude running throughout their conversations: Harger and Treat view themselves as principled and capable administrators surrounded by colleagues who repeatedly disappoint them.
An “Us Versus Them” Alliance
The messages show genuine support between Harger and Treat. They express concern during illnesses and family difficulties, praise certain employees and discuss serious problems involving WVC’s budget, staffing and treatment of the Omak campus.
But that support also appears to have developed into a closed alliance.
They regularly affirm one another’s assumptions and rarely challenge each other’s negative conclusions about colleagues. Their conversations portray themselves as the people who understand WVC’s problems and are willing to act, while depicting many peers as indecisive, uninformed or incapable.
After Harger acknowledged that she might have misjudged a situation involving Harrison and another employee, Treat reassured her:
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
That loyalty may be understandable between friends. Within a senior leadership team, however, constant mutual reinforcement can discourage objective reflection and intensify divisions.
What the Messages Establish
The messages do not prove that Harger or Treat unlawfully retaliated against anyone, conspired to remove an employee or improperly influenced a personnel decision.
Administrators also need the ability to discuss legitimate performance problems and institutional risks candidly.
But these conversations extend well beyond isolated workplace frustration.
They document a sustained text-message channel in which two WVC vice presidents:
- Ridiculed Harrison and numerous colleagues;
- Questioned other employees’ competence, motives and integrity;
- Shared sensitive internal information;
- Coordinated during official meetings;
- Moved sensitive discussions to calls or discreet meetings; and
- Affirmed their own judgment while assigning WVC’s problems to others.
Behind WVC’s formal meetings and public communications, two vice presidents and close friends were describing their workplace as a “shit show,” accusing people of lacking integrity, identifying a “mean girl collective” in “full plot mode” and expressing contempt for a president they considered indecisive and disconnected.
The messages reveal more than two friends occasionally venting. They reveal distrust at the highest levels of Wenatchee Valley College, and two vice presidents who appeared confident they were among the few people doing things right while much of the institution around them was getting it wrong.
Identifying the People Mentioned
Several employees are identified only by their first names.
“Robin” appears to refer to Dr. Robin Angotti, WVC’s Executive Director of ASPIRE. “Ellia” appears to be Ellia Sablan-Zebedy, Executive Director of Strategic Enrollment and Student Success.
“Jenny” may refer to Dr. Jenny Freese, Director of Nursing Programs. “Jennifer” appears to refer to Dr. Jennifer Korfiatis, chair of WVC’s Business and Accounting Department. “Andrew” appears to be Andrew Tutor, a WVC dean.
The “Jeff” mentioned in one exchange may refer to Dr. Jeff Bullock, a WVC Math and Sciences faculty member.
Because the messages generally use only first names, these identifications should be treated as apparent rather than conclusive unless a complete name appears elsewhere in the records.
The Vice Presidents’ Professional Backgrounds
Both administrators brought substantial leadership experience to their positions at WVC.
Harger, who was known professionally for years as Lisa Turner, joined WVC as interim executive director of Human Resources in 2024 and now serves as vice president of Organizational Culture and Engagement.
Her career has largely focused on human resources. She spent 16 years as HR manager at Dolco Packaging before joining the Wenatchee School District in 2007. She was promoted to executive director of Human Resources in 2010 and served on the superintendent’s cabinet.
Harger left the school district in 2019 and worked full-time in her local business. She was a founding owner of Turner Restoration and is a former owner of Community Glass. She has also served on professional and community boards, including the Numerica Performing Arts Center Board of Directors.
Harger holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in Human Resources from Central Washington University and a professional certification in Human Resources.
Treat has served as WVC’s vice president of instruction since 2018. He previously held senior academic and student-affairs positions at Tacoma Community College and Richland Community College and served as a dean at Parkland College.
Treat began his higher-education career as a chemistry professor. His academic and administrative work has included guided-pathways implementation, applied baccalaureate programs, international education and partnerships between colleges and their surrounding communities.
He earned a doctorate in Human Resource Education from the University of Illinois, a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Illinois.
Their experience makes the tone of the messages particularly notable. These were not inexperienced employees casually observing WVC from the sidelines. They were senior administrators with extensive backgrounds in human resources, instruction, leadership development, personnel management and institutional governance.
Editorial note: This article is based on public records produced by Wenatchee Valley College. Descriptions of the messages, their tone and their significance reflect the author’s interpretation. Some names and content were redacted, and the complete context of every conversation may not be available. Unless expressly stated, this article does not allege that the messages establish unlawful conduct. Readers are encouraged to review the underlying records and reach their own conclusions. Any person discussed in this story is invited to provide clarification, additional context or a response for publication.