Antioch College Open

Upcoming negotiations will be pivotal, AC3 group says

By Diane Chiddister

Last Saturday, members of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, or AC3, asked the college and Yellow Springs communities for patience during their upcoming three weeks of critical negotiations with the Antioch University Board of Trustees. The group is working round the clock, its members said, to achieve its goal of securing independence for Antioch College.

While the obstacles to achieving independence remain formidable, the group members said, they feel cautiously optimistic that they will achieve their goal.

“So far we haven’t run into any obstacle that we haven’t been able to overcome and I’m confident that we can continue that,” said Eric Bates, a former university trustee and co-chair of AC3. “We all come to the table with the imagination, creativity and will to get this done.”

The upcoming weeks are critical because the university trustees have asked that AC3 submit to them a letter of intent by Jan. 30. Between that time and the trustees’ regular board meeting Feb. 21–22, the groups will negotiate specific points to determine if an agreement can be reached to transfer ownership of the college from the university to AC3.

The stakes are high, the AC3 members agreed. If an agreement cannot be reached, the college will suspend operations on June 30, as the trustees announced last June. Although the trustees reversed that decision in November in an agreement with the Antioch College Alumni Board, the November agreement was superceded by the trustees’ December decision to explore transferring ownership of the college to the AC3.

The group is not able to publicly discuss issues that are included in its current negotiations, according to Bates. The AC3 “received a communication” from the trustees after Antioch Chancellor Toni Murdock last week presented to the trustees her initial report on the feasibility of a college ownership transfer, but they can’t discuss the content of that communication, according to Bates, who also said the AC3 is talking directly with Murdock and Antioch University Board President Art Zucker.

“We’re as eager as you are to get to a process that is more inclusive,” Bates said to the audience of several hundred students, faculty, staff and villagers who had gathered at McGregor 113.

How AC3 began
The AC3 members came to Yellow Springs Jan. 26 for a weekend of meetings with Antioch College stakeholders. The Saturday morning meeting was the only event open to the Yellow Springs community; the rest of the weekend, AC3 members met with students, staff, faculty and with Murdock.

Along with Bates, AC3 members who came to Yellow Springs were Laura Markham, Steve Schwerner, David Goodman, Barbara Winslow, Lee Morgan, and Catherine Jordan. Alumni board leader Rick Daily of Denver, who is helping to staff the group’s efforts, also attended. Not attending were AC3 Co-chair Francis Horowitz and Terry Herndon.

The group formed after major donors balked following the November agreement between the university trustees and the alumni board, an agreement perceived by some donors as lacking autonomy for the college. After a group of former trustees worked to bring the donors and trustees together, it became clear that the college could not achieve autonomy in its current relationship to the university, Bates said. At the suggestion of Zucker, the group of former trustees and major donors formed the AC3, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, with the intention of receiving ownership of the college, and Murdock was charged with developing a feasibility report on the ownership transfer. In a separate interview, Murdock said she could not discuss any part of the report while the negotiations are ongoing.

It’s critical that everyone understands that during this period, the AC3 has no actual power regarding the college, and that that authority remains in the hands of the university, Bates said.

What’s happened so far
Recent conversations between AC3 members and the Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut were encouraging, Bates said. Critical to the effort to achieve college independence is the need for the college to maintain its ability to grant degrees, which is overseen by the OBR.

According to Bates, Fingerhut “expressed his willingness to do what he and his staff can do to work with us. He said they aren’t in the business of trying to close colleges.”

The AC3 group has not yet met with representatives of the North Central Association, the college’s accrediting agency, or the U.S. Department of Education, regarding federal financial aid, because those aspects of college independence are currently part of discussions between the AC3 and Murdock, according to Bates.

In the six weeks since the December agreement, the AC3 secured the services of Alvarez and Marsel, an internationally-known firm that specializes in turnaround efforts, to determine “what needs to happen in the future for a viable college operation,” Goodman said.

The firm has in the past been hired to oversee a turnaround of the New York City public schools and the New Orleans public schools.

“They specialize in institutions that are struggling and help them reach their potential. We’re getting first rate help,” Bates said.

While they could not answer questions about specifics, the group members said that they are in agreement going into negotiations that the college should maintain its ownership of campus facilities, including Glen Helen, WYSO and the Coretta Scott King Center.

“We’re going in with the clear understanding that the college would emerge with the assets it had prior to becoming part of the university,” Bates said.

Critical to the AC3 efforts at this time is fundraising for the college, the AC3 members agreed.

“This board will have to be a fundraising machine and the alumni will have to write checks or this won’t happen,” Goodman said.

The AC3 board has committed $9 million to the college if the independence effort succeeds, Goodman said. All together, including the alumni board fundraising efforts, the college has received pledges of about $20 million, with about $2 million of that in cash.

However, the group believes it can raise about $100 million within several years from alumni and other college supporters, and it will launch a professional fundraising drive if it gains independence for the college. Many alumni who in the past have not made donations due to the college’s governance structure will feel more free to give if Antioch becomes a free-standing liberal arts college, according to Winslow.

In response to several questions from the audience, AC3 members said they could not say specifically when or if they could tell college faculty that their jobs are secure. They could not make a commitment at this time because negotiations are ongoing and some factors, such as the number of potential students and the results of fundraising efforts, remain unknown.

But the AC3 group has made clear that “we’re committed to an Antioch that is a liberal arts college with a tenured faculty and a unionized staff,” Schwerner said.

The college cannot currently recruit new students or accept transfer students, because if the AC3 effort fails, the college will close in June, Bates stated.

Faculty member Louise Smith stated that, while she wants to believe the AC3 efforts will prevail, she feels a lack of trust in the university leadership based on what felt like past attempts to undermine the college’s survival.

The lack of trust is also held by university leaders toward the college community, according to Bates, who said that at this time, the AC3 is attempting to turn around the culture of mistrust that has permeated college/university relations.

“So far our relationship has been mutually respectful and open. Promises made have been delivered,” he said about the university. “We have to get out of the painful situation you’re describing. We have to keep our eyes on the prize.”

What’s clear, Bates said, is that Antioch College offers something unique to young people, and that it needs to survive.

“This institution has done everything possible to drive everyone here away and you’re still here,” he said to those gathered. “But everyone has suffered due to the lack of resources. You can only imagine what a healthy, well-resourced college would look like.”

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com