Antioch College Closing?

Some trustees open to options at university board meeting

By Diane Chiddister

At least three of the 18 Antioch University Board of Trustees who will attend a special board meeting this weekend say they are coming to the meeting to listen and that a reversal of the board’s earlier decision to close Antioch College is always possible.

Join car caravan Villagers who wish to attend the special Antioch University Board of Trustees meeting this Saturday, Aug. 25, may join a car caravan, which will leave the Antioch College horseshoe drive at 6:15 a.m. The caravan is open to those who need rides and those who wish to give them. Those interested should meet at 6 a.m. The caravan will leave at that time in order to arrive at the meeting site, the Holiday Inn at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, by 8 a.m., according to Antioch alum Judith Wolert-Maldonado, who is organizing the car caravan. That time is when those who wish to speak at the open forum segment of the special board meeting, which takes place from 9 to 11:30 a.m., may sign up to speak. The sign-up is first-come, first-served, according to meeting organizers, and each speaker may have up to five minutes. While the university trustees will attend the morning session to listen, that session will not include opportunities for participants to ask questions, according to university spokesperson Mary Lou LaPierre. From 1 to 5 p.m. that day, the trustees will meet in a closed session with about 25 “stakeholders,” who have been invited to represent various constituencies, including college faculty, alumni, staff and villagers. Last Friday LaPierre said the university was not yet ready to release the names of all of the invited stakeholders. Those who need rides on Saturday should call Wolert-Maldonado at 767-0118 by this Friday afternoon.

“Two good proposals have been put forward and both should be accepted in principle,” Trustee Paula Treichler said in an interview last week. What she would like to see happen at the meeting, Treichler said, is for the board to “say we would rethink the decision and open up the possibility of keeping Antioch College open.”

At their June meeting, the university trustees anounced that, due to a state of financial exigency, the college will suspend operations in a year, with the possibility of reopening in 2012.

But since then, the Antioch College Alumni Board has spearheaded efforts to keep the college from closing. The alumni board has proposed that, in a year, control over the college be transferred to the alumni board from the university and that the college remain open. In the second proposal cited by Treichler, 20 former trustees proposed that a new board of trustees be created for the college and Antioch University McGregor, which would merge and become independent from the university.

Both proposals will be officially delivered at the special board meeting scheduled to take place this Friday through Sunday, Aug. 24–26, at the Cincinnati Airport Holiday Inn. The meeting includes a two and a half hour “open forum” on Saturday morning and a four-hour meeting between the board and about 25 invited stakeholders, which is closed to the press and the public.

In an interview this week, Board Chair Art Zucker stated the purpose of the meeting is to take “the first step in the process to develop a plan for the rebirth of Antioch College.”

Zucker said that, since the alumni board has not yet officially made its proposal, it is too soon to respond to the content, but that the board will discuss the proposal on Saturday. The support and commitment for Antioch College that has surfaced since the June announcement has been gratifying, he said.

“I’m very pleased. I’m excited to see the groundswell of energy and concern. I think it’s wonderful,” he said.

However, Zucker said he could not comment on whether the trustees could reverse their decision to close the college. He is prevented from commenting on that possibility by the injunction request brought against the university last week by college faculty, Zucker said.

“I can’t comment on looking backwards because that could have an effect on the lawsuit,” he said.

However, last week several other trustees were willing to talk about the decision to close Antioch College.

“We know we made the right decision at the time,” said Hal Joseph of Indian Wells, Calif., who said the decision could be changed “if the board is convinced that change is warranted. We should never close our eyes and ears.”

He had originally planned not to attend the special meeting due to the distance, but his wife got him a plane ticket because she felt it was important to go, he said. Joseph said he had not yet seen the alumni board proposal to keep the college open and therefore could not comment.

The decision to close was an emotional one made by a board which is largely composed of Antioch graduates, Joseph said.

“To think we would do anything to purposefully injure the school is not correct,” he said.

Board member Janet Morgan of Pleasantville, N.Y., whose son is currently an Antioch student, said that from her perspective all options will be on the table at the special meeting, including the alumni proposal for keeping the college open.

“I think everything should be considered. We need to listen carefully to all ideas,” she said.

Trustee Bruce Bedford, St. Michael’s, Md., said that he was “looking positively toward the meeting,” although he stated that he could not comment on any proposals until he heard more explanation, and he referred this reporter to Zucker for comments. Trustee Dianne Fraser of Jackson, Miss., declined to comment. Trustee Niels Lyster of Indianapolis will not attend the meeting due to a family obligation, he said, but he will attend the board’s next meeting, in October in Yellow Springs.

Messages left with 11 other trustees were not returned.

According to Treichler, the trustees were instructed at the June meeting not to talk to the press. Asked why, Zucker said he had no comment.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com