Antioch College Open

Several hundred people converged on McGregor 113 Saturday afternoon to hear the announcement from Antioch University trustees about the future of Antioch College. Above, many gave a standing ovation when Interim Antioch College President Andrzej Bloch announced that the trustees had lifted the suspension and the college will remain open. See more pictures here.

Board of trustees lifts suspension; college to remain open

By Diane Chiddister

Antioch University Trustee Janet Morgan of Pleasantville, N.Y., has taken part in many collaborative projects, as a managerial consultant for nonprofits. But the way Antioch University trustees and Antioch College Alumni Board leaders worked together recently to keep the college open stands out to her as exemplary, she said in an interview this week.

“This was the most remarkable piece of collaborative dialogue in my 25 years in the business of doing this professionally,” Morgan said.

The result of that collaboration was the announcement Saturday that the trustees had lifted the suspension on Antioch College. The agreement came a week after trustees had left their Oct. 25 Yellow Springs-based meeting without having come to an agreement with the alumni board, who had led an effort to keep the college open. However, trustees and alumni continued their negotiations last week during conference calls, and made the official announcement last Saturday.

The agreement is “such a victory,” said Antioch University Trustee Paula Treichler of Champaign, Ill., an alumnus who grew up in Yellow Springs.

And to Antioch College Alumni Board President Nancy Crow of Denver, the agreement “represents a historic moment, a golden opportunity to rebuild Antioch.”

But the resolution approved by the trustees and alumni board has also sparked considerable concern and dismay among some college supporters, especially college faculty, students and some alumni. While the agreement lifts the suspension that trustees had ordered for next July, it keeps in place the college’s state of financial exigency, allows for cuts in faculty and student services and, most troubling to many, does not clarify when recruiting of new students may begin.

“If the faculty and staff aren’t stabilized, then the students aren’t stabilized, and this creates a downward spiral,” said faculty member Chris Hill. “There has to be a commitment to stabilize the college immediately. What the college needs is agency, not exigency.”

Faculty and staff are also very concerned that the agreement offers no clear time when the recruitment of new students will begin, Hill said.

The trustees had announced at their June meeting that Antioch College would suspend operations in July 2008 due to financial exigency caused partly by declining enrollment. Since then, the alumni board led a spirited campaign to keep the college open, raising $18 million in 125 days, and produced a business plan for a sustainable college, which they presented at last week’s trustee meeting.

While Antioch College supporters hold a range of opinions about the agreement to keep the college open, they all agree that the college remains vulnerable and is far from out of trouble.

“The easy part is now finished,” said alumni board member Steve Schwerner on Saturday about the effort of alumni, faculty, students and villagers. “Now the difficult part begins.”

Those who support the college also seemed united in their belief that the lifting of the suspension is, at the very least, a step in the right direction.

“It’s been described as getting the foot in the door,” Hill said. “We’re pleased that the college is open.”

Bells signal announcement
A little before 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon, the bells rang at Antioch College. At the same time, several hundred villagers, Antioch students, faculty and staff crowded into McGregor 113 to hear the outcome of the trustees’ conference call of the evening before, which was widely rumored to have favored the college.

When Antioch College Chief Operating Officer Andrzej Bloch opened the gathering with the announcement that the trustees had lifted the suspension, the room erupted in applause and a standing ovation.

In the official anouncement from Antioch University Trustee Chair Art Zucker via a conference call, he emphasized that the trustees’ action was only possible due to “substantial changes that have occurred since the June trustees meeting.” Those changes include recognition by the alumni board of the need for financial exigency, an “open and cooperative relationship” between the trustees and the alumni board, and the “resurgence” of alumni support.

“The alumni’s success in fundraising is a fantastic and unprecedented accomplishment, particularly because it includes a large number of first-time donors,” he said.

Also speaking via a conference call was Antioch University Chancellor Toni Murdock, who said to those gathered that “you have very much to be proud of.”

The board has also passed a resolution to appoint Bloch as interim president of the college, Murdock said, offering an “apology in advance” that the action was taken without consulting with Adcil, the college’s governing body. She will meet with Adcil as soon as she returns to Yellow Springs, Murdock said.

The celebration didn’t last long, though, before questions began, following the distribution of the written agreement to lift the suspension.

The agreement states that the declaration of financial exigency “will remain in effect given the serious financial challenges facing the college.” It also stipulates that continued operations at Antioch will require the closing of some facilities, a reduction of faculty and staff, and “curtailment of some student services that are currently offered to give the college the necessary time to address the facilities and curriculum.”

But the college can’t cut more than it already has cut, according to Antioch Record co-editor Kim-Jenna Jurriaans, “We’re already running at minimum operations,” she said. “Which student services will you not provide?” Overall, she said, the resolution looked like “a washed down version of the alumni business plan.”

Given the statement about faculty and staff cuts, the current faculty, staff and students need assurance from administrators, Antioch faculty member Hassan Rahmanian said.

“Andrzej, can you advise our faculty to stop looking for other jobs? Can you advise our students to stop looking at other colleges?” he asked.

Bloch could not offer assurance to faculty or staff members that their job is secure, he said. And to the students, he stated that “our primary objective” is to stabilize the college.

The overall difficulty, according to Bloch, is that the trustees cannot lift the financial exigency even with the influx of the $18 million that the alumni raised. For instance, most of the donations are in pledges and have not yet been realized. Also, an influx of cash does not mean the college has a stable business plan.

“Our intention is to lift financial exigency,” he said, although he added that, “We don’t know at what point when it can be lifted.” Bloch estimated that financial exigency would remain in place for at least the next 12 months.

The college also must address deferred maintenance to its physical plant, according to Bloch, who said Antioch could no longer afford to put off repairing buildings.

Maintaining financial exigency gives administrators great power over faculty members because it allows them not to honor tenure, according to Chris Hill, who said it is imperative that Adcil, which is the college’s governing body composed of faculty, staff administrators and students, be involved in determining when the college’s financial situation is considered stable.

“We have to play a role in that definition of exigency. Adcil has to be at the table,” she said.

How independent?
Along with keeping the college open, the alumni plan presented to the trustees last week called for establishing an independent board of trustees for the college. Last week’s resolution states that the trustees and board agree to “further develop the plans for a separate board of trustees for the college,” and in the interim, to put into place a college advisory board, whose members will be appointed jointly by the president of the alumni association and the chair of the trustees. According to Crow this week, she hopes to have the advisory board in place by Dec. 1. That board will then begin a search for a new college president, as well as a board of trustees.

Several on Saturday raised questions about what they perceived as a lack of clarity regarding how much autonomy the college will gain.

“Is creating an independent college off the board?” said faculty member Beverly Rodgers.

Much work remains on defining the college’s future autonomy, according to Bloch, who said “the governance system is a work in progress.” The proposed goverance system is a collaborative one, he said, and no one person, including the university chancellor, would have veto power over the college board.

Many at Saturday’s meeting expressed concern that the resolution includes no immediate plans to recruit new students for next year. Because the trustees suspended the college’s operation next July, the Ohio Board of Regents allows the college to grant degrees only through December 2008, and the OBR must be petitioned to reverse that decision, according to Bloch, who said that he is working on the petition now.

“The hope is that it will be a matter of weeks,” he said. “A lot of work needs to be done.”

Many pieces of the agreement between trustees and alumni remain unfinished, according to alumni board member Ellen Borgersen, who said, regarding clarifying the powers of the college board of trustees, “We didn’t get there yet. But we’re keeping the college open.”

Several expressed concern that the resolution instructed Murdock to develop a contingency plan for the suspension of college operations in the event that the OBR did not extend the college’s ability to grant degrees, that contributions did not come in as anticipated, that the university’s accreditation was jeopardized by the continued operation of the college, or that the continued operation of the college would create an event of default in any “existing bond, lease or other legal obligations of the University.”

The contingency plans were mainly to satisfy the university’s lawyers, according to Schwerner, who stated “the lawyers get nervous.”

The resolution also states that the alumni board will transfer to the college at least $2 million 10 days from the date of the agreement; at least $4.6 million for a total of $6.6 million by Dec. 15, 2007; would raise $12 million by May 31, 2008, $26 million by June 30, 2009 and $19 million by June, 2010.

Tough times ahead
One who listened to the more than two-hour discussion Saturday afternoon was trustee Janet Morgan, who was back home in New York state. The questions she heard raised were excellent ones, Morgan said, ones she would have asked herself if she were there.

People were frustrated because so much remains undefined, Morgan said, but she believes that the trustees can be trusted regarding the future of the college.

“The intention is to give as much autonomy and authority as possible so the college can thrive,” she said.

The Oct. 25 meeting established a bond between the trustees and alumni leaders, she said. The two-day event also meant nonstop work for all involved, she said, and much of that work was conducted after regular meeting times at the home of mediator Jay Rothman, who worked to find common ground between the alumni and the trustees.

At the meeting, the trustees and alumni came up with several agreements and understandings, including that the college must remain a residential liberal arts college committed to the principles of academic freedom and tenure, that the college “will be rooted in its historic core values and mission,” according to the resolution, and that there must be continued alumni support.

Both Morgan and Treichler agreed that tough times and hard choices lie ahead. They expressed their concern and support for the faculty, and their disappointment that, according to the resolution, some faculty cuts will be made due to budget limitations. Neither the alumni board nor the trustees got everything they wanted, the two trustees said.

“But we’re giving everyone a whole lot more than we thought we’d have a few months ago,” Treichler said.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com