ACAN – Page 87 – Save Antioch College

AAUP Investigation Announcement – October 1, 2008

October 1, 2008

Dr. Tullisse A. Murdock
Chancellor
Antioch University
150 E. South College Street
Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387

Mr. Arthur J. Zucker
Chair, Board of Trustees
Antioch University
2012 Prescott Pl
Raleigh, North Carolina 27615

Dear Chancellor Murdock and Chair Zucker:

Thank you for your letter of last March 21 responding to ours of March 14 (copies enclosed for your convenience). We were tempted to respond at the time, but thought it best to await further developments in the negotiations which were then moving rapidly. Now, with issues remaining unresolved but with a less turbulent situation in the new academic year underway, members of our staff, with the general secretary participating, have once again turned our attention to Antioch. We have come to the view that the closing of Antioch College, whether it proves to be temporary or permanent, is an event the AAUP needs to address. We have agreed that our focus should be upon the governance issues raised by the university’s closing of a core component of the institution and, indeed, its founding college. Among additional issues to be considered are the governance implications for the continuing institution, namely, whether, without the college, Antioch University will operate in accordance with basic principles of academic governance as enunciated in the enclosed Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. As to Antioch College itself, we shall likely want to address the prospects of whether and in what form Antioch College will resume, and indeed, whether there was a realistic alternative to closing it when that was done.

In situations such as Antioch’s that present developments of basic concern to the academic community, our experience has indicated that it is desirable, in fairness to the institutional administration, to the affected faculty members, and to the institution as a whole, to establish an ad hoc committee composed of persons who have had no previous involvement with the particular matter, to conduct its own full inquiry and prepare a report. The general secretary has accordingly authorized the appointment of such a committee, charging it with reporting to the Association’s standing Committee on College and University Governance.

The following persons have accordingly been appointed to serve as the ad hoc committee charged with investigating the case of Antioch University and the closing of Antioch College:

Professor Diane C. Zannoni, chair
Department of Economics
Trinity College, Connecticut

Professor Ronald G. Ehrenberg
Department of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics
Cornell University

Professor Rudy Fichtenbaum
Department of Economics
Wright State University

Professor Duane Storti
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Washington – Seattle

We shall welcome your cooperation and shall be back in touch with you when we have dates to propose for a committee visit.

Sincerely,

Anita Levy, Ph.D.
Associate Secretary

Enclosures
cc: Dr. David Caruso, President, Antioch University New England
Dr. Barbara Gellman-Danley, President, Antioch University McGregor
Dr. Neal King, President, Antioch University Los Angeles
Dr. Cassandra Manuelito-Kerkvliet, President, Antioch University Seattle
Dr. Michael Mulnix, President, Antioch University Santa Barbara
Dr. Laurien Alexandre, Director, PhD in Leadership & Change Program Antioch University
Antioch AAUP Membership
Ad hoc Committee

GLCA Update on Progress of Task Force Move Toward an Independent Antioch College

GLCA Press Release
For Immediate Release, October 15, 2008
Contact: Charla White

On Monday, October 13, 2008, the Task Force charged with developing a plan for an independent Antioch College met in New York City with Antioch University Board of Trustees Chair, Art Zucker,’55 and Chancellor Toni Murdock. The purpose of this meeting was to brief the Chair and Chancellor on the work of the Task Force over the past three months, and to elicit their thinking on the strategies being considered by the Task Force.

According to Richard Detweiler, president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and mediator/chair of the Task Force, “The meeting was positive and constructive, and we made significant progress toward formalizing a resolution. It is clear that everyone sitting around the table shares the commitment to the creation of an independent college, and that the only question is the optimal route forward, particularly in these financially turbulent times.”

The Task Force is continuing its work in the coming weeks, refining the approaches it has been developing based on the meeting’s discussions.

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Founded in 1962, the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) is a non-profit organization governed by thirteen selective liberal arts colleges in the Midwest: Albion, Allegheny, Antioch, DePauw, Denison, Earlham, Hope, Kalamazoo, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, Wabash, and Wooster. Its purpose is to strengthen and extend education in the tradition of the liberal arts and sciences. GLCA often works conjointly with similar associations of liberal arts colleges to enhance the strength and vitality of member institutions.

One to go

By now you’ve probably all heard about our visit from the winds of hurricane Ike. They blew through Ohio on Sunday the 14th of September with gusts over 78 miles per hour uprooting tree’s, making missiles out of black walnuts, peeling back the roof of my 150 year old garage, and knocking out power to almost 2million Ohio residents. Since that time we have ambled back in to the office from our dark homes to the office where power was restored on Wednesday 9/17. Gradually, one by one, reporting a return to modern living. Risa and Cheri were first, then Pam, then me, yesterday was Duffy’s day, and then there is Fred. Day 10 and still no power for Fred. You wouldn’t know it to see him, Fred, ever patient, making coffee on his grill before coming in for a day of work with us. Seven down one to go.

Vermont Chapter “DIV dance” – August 23, 2008

Vermont and upstate New York alums enjoyed a tiki-torchlit “DIV dance” on the shores of Lake Champlain August 23.

Jill Wolcott, ‘74, hosted. “It was an enchanted evening,” said Wolcott – with balmy breezes, the sound of the lake lapping the shore and northern lights above. “I was either right back on the stoop in Yellow Springs or I was in heaven.”

Kenny Peck, ‘75, spun sounds from the ’60s and ’70s. Amanda Calder, ‘07, caught everyone up on the latest doings in Yellow Springs. And the 25 or so alums in attendance, spanning five decades of graduating classes, from the Sixties through the Oughties, bonded over a viewing of The Antioch Adventure.

“Every time we alums get together, we seem to recreate some of the Antioch magic,” said Wolcott.

The impending launch of the Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute was the impetus for the get-together – and cause for renewed excitement among the group about prospects for rekindling the spirit of Antioch College.

“We felt some need to celebrate the victory of the-college-formerly-known-as-Antioch in receiving its independence from the University,” said Peck. “Back in the early 70’s, someone scribbled ‘If dogs run free . . .’ all over the Yellow Springs campus, a sign of those times, but in hindsight it seems more now to be a metaphor of what Antioch was once and perhaps what the Non-Stop venture can still be.”

For photos of this event Click Here

Southeastern Michigan and Northern Ohio – Sunday 9/21

Folks –

You are invited to the next meeting of the Antioch College Alumni Chapter of Southeastern Michigan and Northern Ohio:

WHEN: Sunday, September 21, 2008, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Margo Lowenstein has graciously offered to host our meeting, with refreshments (!!!) at her home:

WHERE: 1121 Gott St, Ann Arbor

I’ve grabbed and attached some sample text (no maps) directions from Mapquest using Margo’s home address and figured routes from the north (Flint) south (Toledo) and east (Detroit). I’ve saved them in the 1997-2003 version of MS Word, so hopefully everyone can open them as needed.

WHAT:

Join Antiochians all across the country for Antioch (oops) NONSTOP Rocks, September 20-21, 2008 — a weekend dedicated to community building, planning, discussing, updating and coming-together as we move into the next phase of our struggle to save our beloved College.

Learn about alumni chapter organizing from NYC to LaJolla CA.

View the DVD prepared by the CRF.

Learn about the CRF, NLIA in YSO, Pro Tem Board, Task Force, GLCA and all the latest developments.

Contribute your ideas for our own chapter building and fundraising activities. We’ve already lined up some musicians and poets and others who are willing to contribute their talents to assist in this campaign.

WHY:

This a critical time in our struggle to reclaim and to rebuild Antioch as the autonomous liberal arts undergraduate college that we all know and love. Then again, we seem to have been in that critical stage for well over a year now! But yes, we are all needed so we must work to come together and do what Antiochians do – MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

BACKGROUND:

Since the Antioch University Board of Trustees ultimately rejected the alternative plans proposed by the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (AC3) it has proceeded to close and shutter the Yellow Springs campus. Since then the Antioch College faculty, staff and students, with the support of the townspeople and friends of Yellow Springs, and the Alumni Association and its Board of Directors, has just this week launched the NonStop Liberal Arts Institute. (For more complete information about the Institute, please go to the website: nonstopinstitute.org/). Just shortly before the 2008 Alumni Reunion, the Antioch University Board of Trustees formally unanimously decided to ask the Alumni Association and our Board to make an offer and a plan to take offer the College. A task force was quickly appointed, as follows:

“The task force consists of two representatives of the Antioch College Alumni Association (we selected Matthew Derr ‘89 and Lee Morgan ‘66), two representatives of the Antioch University Board of Trustees, and the President of the Great Lakes Colleges Association as the mediator.” (Source: antiochians.org/2008/08/08/preparation-for-a-new-fully-independent-antioch-college-aided-by-new-advisors/)

These past few months have been marked by intense negotiations while we have observed the closing and shutting down of the College buildings, during which there has been a great deal of concern expressed about the “clearing and cleaning” of the buildings, the disposition of furnishings and the preparation of the buildings for the coming cold weather. Please read about some of our frustrations by taking a look at the comments of our Alumni Association President, Nancy Crow, at the following site: antiochians.org/2008/09/08/campus-facilities-update-from-nancy-crow-president-alumni-board-of-directors/

Meanwhile, the work continues to establish the structure of the team that will initially guide the resurrection of Antioch College:

“The Antioch College Alumni Board of Directors announced that it has named the first 5 members to the College Board of Trustees Pro Tem. This initial group includes Matthew Derr ‘89, Atis Folkmanis ‘62, Frances Degen Horowitz ‘54, Lee Morgan ‘66, and Barbara Slaner Winslow ‘68.” (Source: antiochians.org/2008/08/20/first-5-members-named-to-antioch-college-board-of-trustees-pro-tem/)

There is again some light on the horizon and strong hope for reclaiming Antioch. The folks on the ground at the newly established administrative offices are fully committed to providing the support and structure for the process of rebuilding. (Please see the following site for a description of the offices and the work that is underway in Yellow Springs: antiochians.org/2008/04/10/nonstop-antioch-has-new-home-and-staff/)

“April 10, 2008– Antioch alumni working through the College Revival Fund, Inc. (CRF) announced today that they have opened new offices in Yellow Springs, Ohio for “Nonstop Antioch.” These offices are at 716 Xenia Avenue, right across the street from the Antioch College campus. The CRF is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt non-profit corporation founded by members of the Antioch College Alumni Association. Since last June, the CRF has raised over $19.5 million dollars for a continuing, independent Antioch College.

CRF Acting President Ellen Borgersen said today in a statement, “The Antioch University Board of Trustees has shown that they are unworthy to and unwilling to carry on the Antioch College educational mission. The attack on Antioch College is an attack on experiential liberal arts education, shared governance, tenured faculty, and unionized staff. It is up to the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and townspeople of Yellow Springs to carry on the historic mission of Antioch College, and Nonstop Antioch is the vehicle that will organize alumni support for that effort.”

There are pressing issues that need to be considered and the full support of all of the Antioch College Alumni is needed.

In addition to more complete reports about the structure being developed to assume control of the College and its ultimate reopening, we will be able to view a DVD about the NonStop Liberal Arts Institute, and discuss options and opportunities for our involvement. Not the least of these concerns is mounting a massive fundraising initiative, led by Risa Grimes and her staff now based at our 716 Xenia Avenue offices. I’ve attached a copy of the “College Revival Form” Pledge/Payment Form to begin that process. But we will also need everyone’s input for some ideas for fundraising activities. We’ve already lined up some musicians and poets and others who are willing to contribute their talents to assist in this campaign.

We need you to come out, join in and work with us in what we hope will be a major push over the top of the mountain leading to a renewed and revitalized autonomous Antioch College – something we haven’t had for three decades!

Can we count on you, please?!

If anyone has any questions, suggestions or concerns, please contact either one of us.

To assist with planning and refreshments, please RSVP to this email to either of your chapter co-chairs:

Tendaji W. Ganges at tganges
Terry Blackhawk at terry260.

We look forward to seeing you on September 21st at Margo’s house!

BE ASHAMED TO LET IT DIE!!!

Tendaji W. Ganges and Terry Blackhawk
Co-Chairs

Chicago – Sept 20th Rock Nonstop at The Spot!

Hi Everyone!

This weekend Saturday, September 20th we are gathering at

The Spot
4437 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL

Starting at 9pm with open bar reception from 10pm-11pm. Please bring a non-perishable food item for The Spot’s canned food drive and just mention “Antioch” to cut the line and waive the cover.

Please join us on The Spot’s patio show our solidarity with the national Nonstop Rocks weekend to support Nonstop Antioch and the Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute. We will catch up with each other and the state of the Nonstop Antioch movement.

If you haven’t been involved with the Chicago Chapter, this is the perfect start! Join us for a fun, social evening among friends and get the latest lowdown from the front lines.

How can you help? Spread the word! Then? Attend! Below is the link to the The Nonstop at The Spot Facebook event page, and attached is the invitation.

Hope to see you there!

Beth Richards ‘04
Outreach/ Recruitment Coordinator
Chicago Area Alumni Chapter

Sept 20th Facebook Event Page

www.new.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=40032253520

Chicago Antiochians Facebook Group

www.new.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=38213289792