Author: ACAN

Community Managers’ Letter to the Yellow Springs News

It has been widely reported that the Antioch Community was outraged as they converged on campus this weekend for the largest reunion in recent history. In the purest Antioch tradition of turning outrage into action, we came together in what will surely be considered an historic moment.

Approximately 15 past and present Community Managers put forth a strategy to utilize the talents and energy of the more than 500 passionate and dedicated people who attended the reunion. Current CM’s presented the framework during Saturday’s Community Meeting, and attendees then divided into workgroups to focus on specific actions.

The CM’s then got to work to transcribe and unify the efforts of the afternoon into a single document and pledge cards. Within 20 minutes of the reading of the document, $100,000 had been raised. Within 18 hours, that number was in excess of $424,000.

In an impressive show of unity across generations, alumni, students, faculty, and staff worked together to create a vision for the future. Our collective will to struggle against threats to end the Antioch College legacy inspired several days of intense planning and hard work; the strongest demonstration of the Antioch education in shared governance and respectful, democratic process.

As we return to our respective corners of the world, there is an incredible shared sense that we will win this fight for our values and our institution, if for no other reason than that we must.

Please donate to the College Revival Fund
USBank Account #130 110 698 524

Rory Adams-Cheatham, Community Manager 07-08
Chad Johnston, CM 01-02
Shannon McCarville, CM 02-03
Dietrich Delrieu-Schulze, CM 01-02
Tim Noble, Administrative Council 01-02

Taos Pueblo Poem Read by Nancy Crow

Taos Pueblo Poem 

to the community in honor of the Antioch Northern New Mexico Co-op Learning Community and read by Nancy Crow to the community:

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe in, even if it is a tree, which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold On!!!

Alumni Fury at Antioch – Inside Higher Ed snippet

Alumni Fury at Antioch

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/06/25/qt

  • Antioch College, which is slated for shutdown after the next academic year, held its reunion this weekend and many alumni emerged from meetings with the leaders of Antioch University more angry than ever about the closure plans, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reported. Alumni and professors — many of whom are deeply distrustful of the university’s board and administration — are trying to raise money independently and find ways to change the institution’s governance. Details are on the Web site called Save Antioch.

    • Antioch College Revival Resolution

    Antioch College Revival Resolution
    June 24, 2007

    Whereas, Over 500 Antioch College Alumni attended the 2007 Antioch College Reunion representing the classes of 1938 through 2007, and

    Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni met in community sessions with College faculty, staff, current students, administrators, McGregor students, members of the Board of Trustees and representatives of Yellow Springs to discuss alternatives to the closing of Antioch College in June 2008, and

    Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni organized working groups to monitor and manage communications with the full Alumni and external stakeholders, fund raising, governance and negotiations with the Board of Trustees, and

    Whereas, The Antioch College Alumni Association has established an independent College Revival Fund and we, the Antioch College Alumni, donated over $400,000 in less than 12 hours and raised over $15,000 from a live and silent auction as a signal of our commitment and resolve to keep Antioch College open, and

    Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni call upon the legacy of Horace Mann, Arthur Morgan and the thousands of Antiochians who have passed through this institution of higher education, known today as one of the colleges that produces leaders and innovators who change the world, and

    Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni believe that Antioch College is worth fighting for and deserves every effort of its alumni and friends to rebuild the institution, making it whole and vibrant and able to provide a liberal arts education based in the values of community governance, cooperative education, challenging academic course work, mutual respect, intellectual freedom, free and open inquiry and celebration of diversity, and

    Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni will be ashamed to let Antioch College die;

    Therefore, be it Resolved that:

    1.    The Antioch College Alumni are committed to the uninterrupted continuation of Antioch College as an institution of higher education with a tenured faculty.
    2.    The Antioch College Alumni instructs our elected Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors to negotiate with the Antioch University Board of Trustees and the President of Antioch College the following:

    a.    The establishment of an autonomous Board of Trustees for Antioch College.
    b.    The protection of the assets of Antioch College for use by Antioch College including its faculty, staff, Glen Helen, endowment, Antioch Education Abroad Program, Library and its holdings, physical plant and land.
    c.    The exploration of a merger of Antioch College and Antioch University McGregor into one entity to provide a stream of earned revenue to support an undergraduate program.

    3.    The Antioch College Alumni in attendance call upon all Antioch College alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents, members of the Yellow Springs Community, colleagues in higher education including members of the faculty and student bodies of McGregor School and other units of Antioch University and other interested parties to stand with us to raise the necessary funds and call to action all necessary support to continue the full operations of Antioch College.

    Approved by a majority vote of the Antioch College Alumni at the Reunion Brunch on June 24, 2007

    Approved by a unanimous vote of the Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors at its special meeting at noon on June 24, 2007

    Respectfully submitted by:
    Catherine Jordan, ’72
    Member
    Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors

    Action Items from today’s Community Meeting

    ACTION ITEMS FROM COMMUNITY MEETING
    June 23, 2007
    This document is the result of a community process facilitated by Antioch College Community Government, past and present.  The role of Community Government is and has been to facilitate communication and collaborative decision-making with staff, students, faculty, and alumni to make Antioch College reflective of its community.
    Today, Antioch College students, alumni, faculty and members of the Yellow Springs community came together to form plans to rescue Antioch College from immediate suspension of operations. This is a working document, and does not represent foreclosure on further discussion, generation of options, or action.
    We would like to add that it was our education at Antioch College and our experience with shared governance that made this process possible.
    As community members, we invoke the spirit of Horace Mann when we say, “Be ashamed to let it die!”

    FINANCE
    Overall goal: Create a work group of alumni board with Antioch College development office members.

    Fundraising internally with alumni
    1. Everyone should write a check NOW to the College Revival Fund (CRF)
    2. Call all your friends and family NOW and ask them to write a check to the College Revival Fund
    3. Create email mailing list with info and a way to pledge money to distribute a packet including a pledge card, case statement, statement from CRF, and goal of fundraising campaign, 1-2 articles about college revival
    4. Create volunteer committee for phoning and mailing alums

    Trustworthy utilization of money
    1. Create a sustainable business model
    2. Let donors earmark money for specific purposes
    3. Clarify if the money is going to the operating budget or to the endowment
    4. If donors feel uncomfortable giving cash at this time they should consider pledges
    5. Clarify the relationship to the University
    6. Transparent accounting

    External Fundraising
    1. Conference call within 1 week of interested participants
    2. Development of email list
    3. Mapping of history and relationships
    4. Low-hanging fruit strategy

    GOVERNANCE AND LEGAL

    Participatory Government and Representation

    1. The erosion of shared governance has set the stage for our current situation.
    2. Suspension of Antioch College operations would compromise the powerful tradition of participatory governance for which the college and community are so well known.
    3. Any action to maintain operations and revitalize the college must actively include the broader Antioch Community (students, staff, faculty and alumni) and its structure of shared governance:  Community Government, Comcil, Adcil, Faculty Senate, Union, etc.
    4. The revitalization of Antioch College rests on an affirmation and strengthening of our culture and practice of direct participation in decision-making processes.

    Legal Action that can or should be taken
    1. Identify Antiochians willing to be part of a legal team and/or willing to provide pro-bono legal support
    2. Define the specifics of college autonomy; what would be relationship and oversight between proposed board of governors and college trustees?
    3. Pursue proposed merger with McGregor so that local adult education would benefit the College
    4. Investigate conditions of subsidy from Antioch University: how much?  How long? Conditions of subsidies?
    5. Legal action is not being taken for compensation, but with the purpose of keeping Antioch College open.

    Legal University Relationship to college
    Mission: we need to maintain the heart and values of Antioch College which has as its locus and can only have its locus on the campus here in Yellow Springs.
    1. Must create an autonomous board with the understanding that the relationship to the university remains to be defined
    2. Invite a current board member to participate on the new board
    3. Campus needs to be a combination of the college and McGregor with the idea that all are members of the community and we are defined as a single entity
    4. Create an Antioch college with a McGregor school as an adult education wing of the college
    5. Define current situation as a reduced level of operation, and the level increases as funding increases
    6. Maintain physical plant and declare moratorium on property development and speculation

    COMMUNITY CULTURE AND  COMMUNICATIONS

    Communicating effectively with each other
    1. Antiochians.org is live – develop as central communications portal for Antiochians
    2. Create communications task force to coordinate and advise community members in performing essential communications functions to support the College revival effort
    3. Establish local or regional alumni chapters where there are none and strengthening those that already exist
    4. Establish a conduit for communications from Campus
    5. Process/Edit/Disseminate information to/from Antiochians and other groups

    History
    1. Create narrative history of how Antioch got into position its in now
    2. Attach narrative to web site where people have access to history with FAQ and possible wiki
    3. Creation of writers group for people who are interested in helping college and whose primary skills are in writing

    Supporting Yellow Springs, faculty, and students
    1. Write letter the editor of YS News
    2. Hold town meeting within 2 weeks
    3. Hold next meeting of this group on Wednesday June 27, 2007 at 7pm at Coretta Scott King Center
    4. Put pressure on the University to hold itself accountable to the village of YS and its economic stability
    5. Create positive community spirit to spread via signage, slogans, a web site, and more community held events
    6. (Long-term) involve YS residents in campus activities and open campus facilities (art building gym, theater, library, King Center, photo house) to the greater YS community
    7. Hold a welcome-back festival for returning students in the fall of ‘07

    Communicating Effectively with Media
    1. Create a value statement
    a. dynamic slogan
    b. media talking points
    c. framing the message
    2. Producing media
    a. website
    b. video/photo documentation of this process
    c. visual media
    3. General PR strategy
    a. create press release
    b. Nominate spokespeople
    c. disseminate to local and national news outlets

    — Community Government on behalf of the Antioch College community

    Update on Alumni Reunion

    Hey all,

    Chad Johnston here. I’m going to give a brief update on what’s been going on here at the 600+ person reunion. The common theme is: Be ashamed to let it die!

    The alumni board is committed to the College having its own board…details forthcoming.

    The alumni board has created the Revival Fund, administered by the Alumni Association. Give some and then give more! Please make you check payable to “College Revival Fund” and deposit in any branch of US Bank to account #: 130 110 698 524.  You can also send your check to:

    Rick Daily, Treasurer

    Antioch College Alumni Association

    Antioch College Alumni Office

    795 Livermore Street

    Yellow Springs, OH 45387

    Antioch Community Government had an immensely productive community meeting today…probably the most effective meeting I have ever seen on campus. We broke up into work groups to discuss and action item the following issues:
    Governance
    Communication
    Fundraising/Finance
    The work that came out of these groups were amazing. This is Antioch College at it’s best.

    Stay tuned for videos of events, announcements on the next steps, and the action plan from the Community as facilitated by Community Government. We’re in the library now hammering it out…this is very cool and we will prevail!

    Thank you all…and seriously, if you ever thought that there was a time to give, now is it…

    Sincerely,

    Chad Johnston