Antioch College Closing?

Villagers overflow church at meeting to save the college

By Diane Chiddister

It was hot at the emergency town meeting that took place Tuesday night at the First Presbyterian Church in support of keeping Antioch College open. It was hot partly because the meeting followed a hot and humid day and the room had no air conditioning.

Mostly, though, it was hot because the room was very, very crowded.
People began streaming into the meeting, which took place in Westminster Hall, way before the 7:30 starting time, and by the time the meeting began the room was packed. Those who attended were old, young, and all ages in between, some sitting in wheelchairs, others holding babies. The chairs held about 200 people and they filled up fast, with others standing against walls and sitting on tables.

Sponsored by the Yellow Springs Residents in Support of the Antioch College Revival Resolution, the meeting took place to support Antioch’s faculty and alumni efforts to keep Antioch College open. The efforts began last month in response to the Antioch University Board of Trustees’ announcement that the college, due to a financial crisis, would close in July 2008, with the intent of reopening four years later.

But all of the meeting’s speakers and most audience members who spoke had no intention of allowing Antioch to close. And while some expressed anger at the Antioch board or the university administration for that decision, most seemed focused on moving ahead and working together to reach their goal as they shared both information and inspiration.

Comparing the outpouring of community support to save Antioch College with the effort seven years ago to save Whitehall farm, Judith Hempfling described the previous effort as villagers’ “expression of a fierce love for the community, a powerful example of what can be done when the people come together for the common good.”

The meeting began with speakers who represented different constituencies of the college and the community, including Anne Bohlen of the Antioch faculty, Steve Duffy of Antioch staff, Chelsea Martens, current Antioch community manager, Lynda Sirk, Antioch College director of public relations, Dana Patterson, director of the Coretta Scott King Center and college alumni Miguel Santiago and Rowan Kaiser. From the community, Hempfling represented Village government, although she stated she was speaking only as an individual, and Sam Eckenrode spoke as an alumna and local business person.

Duffy presented an overview of historical Antioch College financial challenges, and Bohlen spoke from the faculty perspective.
“We are shocked and dismayed that this decision was made without consulting the faculty,” she said. “We think the board might have taken less severe measures” rather than closing the college.

Antioch University Chancellor Toni Murdock and Antioch College President Steve Lawry had been invited, but were unable to attend, according to facilitator Lori Askeland. However, Murdock and Lawry will make a presentation at Village Council this Monday, July 16, at 7 p.m., according to Askeland, who urged villagers to attend that meeting.

The university trustees “do care,” about the college, according to Sirk, who said they asked her to listen and report to them the concerns raised. Sirk also stated that 23 representatives of “major media outlets” attended and reported on last month’s college alumni reunion.

The media attention to the story of the Antioch College closing “has been enduring and persistent,” she said. “You have people watching from all over the nation.”

According to Sirk, Murdock will soon take part in a weekly question and answer show on WYSO, in order to respond to concerns. In response, Antioch College co-op faculty member Eric Miller stated that he would like to ask Murdock the question, “What are you doing to keep the college open?”

The alumni are working hard in several areas to help save the college, according to Santiago and Kaiser. By last week, the alums had raised $525,000 for the College Revival Fund, Santiago said. He urged villagers to “host events to bring awareness to the college” and to keep the media informed.

“This needs to be in the public eye,” he said. “Keep raising money. Money is the only thing that will make a difference. Keep helping us.”

The alumni have also developed www.Antiochians.org, a new Web site aimed to enhancing communication among alumni and college supporters, and disseminating information, according to Kaiser, who urged everyone to log on to the Web site. The number of Antioch College alumni organizations across the country has, since the board’s decision to close the college, jumped from seven to 33, according to Amy Maruyama of the Antioch College alumni office.
Several speakers emphasized the interconnectedness between the college and the community.

“What makes Yellow Springs Yellow Springs is our appreciation of differences, the richness of our cultural life and the small town atmosphere,” Hempfling said. “We are deeply linked to the college.”

As examples of those links, Hempfling listed the Antioch School, the Antioch library and gym, the Antioch Writers’ Workshop, the Dharma Center, the YS Kids Playhouse, Antioch University McGregor and the local businesses started in the Antioch College incubator.

The recently opened Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom is one of the places where the college and the community come together, King Center Director Dana Patterson said. The King Center staff supports the alumni efforts to keep the college open because that was the wish of the center’s namesake, she said.

“We gotta be there for the legacy of Coretta Scott King,” she said.
The relationship between Antioch College and Antioch McGregor was addressed by two speakers, including Antioch McGregor student and former Antioch College student Brooke Bryan, who stated that she and other McGregor students she knows value the traditions of the college and “want to see more of Antioch College values in place at the university.”

Steve Deal expressed concern about what he perceives as tensions between those at the college and at McGregor, and the energy spent in addressing those tensions.

“It seems like resources are being squandered when there are no resources to squander,” he said.

A few speakers expressed caution about the effort to save the college, and questioned whether that effort would really make a difference.
“This is a lot of patting ourselves on the back,” Ven Adkins said, citing his concerns as a businessman. “As a business owner, I know I need customers. If enrollment has been going downhill for years, how can we continue to pour money into the college? What is being done? Why isn’t this a priority?”
Attracting more students has been a priority to those in the admissions department, according to Angie Glukhov, the college’s assistant director of admissions. In 2006 the college broke a 30-year record in terms of enrollment requests, and enrollment was steadily growing.

“But it was not growing fast enough,” she said.

And according to Santiago, there was “a lot of mismanagement” among Antioch College administrators and the college was “a poorly managed business that didn’t put enough money into admissions.”

Ellen Hoover of Communty Resources made a plea to Murdock to more clearly specify the “partnership with the community” that she has described in her discussions of the college closing and then reopening in four years.
“How can we help in the efforts without taking a political position?” Hoover said. “How can we be there for you?”

But most who attended were less interested in helping Murdock and more interested in saving Antioch College. Following initial presentations and questions, participants broke into three small working groups: communication and art, fundraising and creative development and community support for faculty, staff and students. Organizers said a second meeting will take place on Monday, July 23, at the Senior Center.

Citing the well-known quote by anthropologist Margaret Mead, Judith Wolert-Maldonado stated, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com