Antioch College Closing?

Trustees open door to possibility of keeping college open

By Diane Chiddister

Those who worked hard this summer to keep Antioch College from closing allowed themselves a few moments of celebration this week, after Monday’s announcement that the Antioch University Board of Trustees agreed to work with the college’s alumni board to explore the possibility of keeping the college open.

But the celebration didn’t last long. Almost immediately, college supporters charged off to address the even more daunting challenges now facing them.

“It’s an exciting moment,” said Catherine Jordan of Minneapolis, who presented the alumni board’s plan to the trustees at their special meeting last weekend. “Now the real work begins. We have been given the opportunity to make things work. It’s all hands on deck. Any ideas, any relationships, anything anyone can think of, now’s the time.”

According to Jordan, the trustees’ Monday announcement was the best the alumni had hoped for at this point.

“This is just what I wanted to have happen,” she said.

On Monday, the trustees announced that they are willing to work with the alumni board to provide the alumni the opportunity to demonstrate, by the trustees’ October meeting, “the financial and academic feasibility of the College Alumni Board’s proposal for the continued operation of the College,” according to the press release.

The announcement followed a two-day special trustee meeting held in Cincinnati, during which the trustees heard two proposals, that from the alumni board and one from a group of 27 former trustees, both aimed at separating the college from the university governance structure and keeping the college open. The trustees also heard from many Antioch stakeholders during two open sessions. (See accompanying article)

The weekend’s input was critical to the trustees’ change of heart, according to University Board Chair Art Zucker.

The trustees’ statement was a response to “a culmination of the outpouring of energy and enthusiasm of so many people, which was further enhanced by what we heard this weekend,” Zucker said in a phone interview on Monday. On a personal level, he said, he feels “sort of tired, but I feel very good, and the outpouring of energy is so thrilling. I am deeply moved by it.”

The special meeting was called to consider how to move the college forward after an avalanche of resistance to the trustees’ June 12 announcement that, due to a financial crisis, the college would suspend operations for four years beginning in July 2008. Following that announcement, the alumni began an intensive effort to marshall funds and energies to keep the college open, which has resulted in raising $8 million.

The press release also states the trustees “stipulated that the Alumni Board’s proposal will need to develop a realistic business plan with required benchmarks as established by the Trustees, the Chancellor and the University Leadership Council.” The press release states that the university will provide to the alumni board “due diligence access to all financial data of the college, consistent with state and federal regulations,” which the alumni had requested on Saturday.

At an Antioch College community meeting of faculty, staff and students Monday morning, enthusiastic applause followed after College President Steven Lawry read the trustees’ press release, and most who spoke expressed hopefulness and cautious optimism.

“My goal was to convince the trustees that we were worthy of collaboration,” said Antioch Associate Professor Beverly Rodgers, who attended the Saturday meeting as a faculty representative. “We proved ourselves worthy. I’m proud to be part of the Antioch community.”

But speakers also expressed an awareness of how much work remains.

“We have made a major first step, but only a first step,” said retired Antioch Dean of Students Steve Schwerner, who attended Saturday’s meeting as an alumni representative. “This is not a total victory. There’s a long way to go.”

Specifically, the trustees have not yet officially lifted their suspension of college operations in July 2008, and consequently the admissions department cannot move ahead with recruiting new students for next year. However, according to Lawry, the college can move ahead with planning recruitment strategies which it can immediately implement if the board lifts the suspension in October.

Also, while the alumni board has stated that the college must be independent from the university, the trustees’ statement only agrees to “consider a separate board with significant authority,” which is a very different stance, according to alumna Ellen Borgersen.

“A lot of work remains to be done,” she said.

But overall, Antioch College supporters felt very hopeful on Monday, and proud that their statements in support of the college seem to have been heard.

Those who spoke for the college on Saturday were “so coherent, so civil, so impassioned,” said Judy Kintner, who represented college staff at Saturday’s meeting. “We’re making history. A lot of people are watching us, this campus, everything we say and do. We have a long way to go and I want to get there together.”

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com