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Glen Helen's geothermal plan
Yellow Springs News issued a sizable grant of about $290000 to Antioch College, amongst other Ohio schools, for environmental education projects. The closed loop geothermal … |
Category: Yellow Springs News
Antioch receives anonymous donation
Antioch College has announced the receipt of a $50,000 gift from an anonymous donor.
When making the gift, the donor offered best wishes for the new year and the start of the presidency of Mark Roosevelt, who assumed office Saturday, Jan. 1.
The money will go toward a $1.5 million challenge that the college received from another donor earlier in the year.
Originally founded in 1850, Antioch College gained its independence in the fall of 2009. The college, currently recruiting the inaugural class to enter in the fall of 2011, is recruiting a faculty and undergoing a multi-year accreditation process.
Roosevelt, the former superintendent of the Pittsburgh Schools, was appointed president of Antioch College following a unanimous vote of the Board Pro Tempore, the college’s governing body. He succeeds Interim President Matthew Derr as the college’s chief executive.
A farewell to Matthew Derr
- By Megan Bachman
- Published: December 14, 2010
Antioch College interim president Matthew Derr is humbled by an outpouring of support from staff and supporters at a reception held in his honor last Thursday. (Photo by Megan Bachman)
At a reception for departing Antioch College interim president Matthew Derr last week, college staff praised him for his patience, unswerving leadership and unflaging optimism for his role in alumni negotiations to purchase the college from Antioch University and in leading the revived institution in its first year as an independent college.
“It was his compassion to listen to all sides and make creative informed decisions,” that made Derr successful, according to Antioch’s chief financial officer Tom Brookey. “And he had a great vision for the college.”
At the reception, held last Thursday at Herndon Gallery in South Hall, Derr was commended by college staff for everything from his email responsiveness and bowties to his hands-on style and loyalty to his employees.
“He knew this place like the back of his hand,” said communication director Gariot Louima. “It wasn’t just a business to him – it was a place of love and his employees felt that.”
Antioch College staff and supporters cheer for Matt Derr and Antioch. (Photo by Megan Bachman)
College staff and community supporters also sang a version of the alma mater with lauding Derr —“You fought the fight with strenght forthright/Some call you Antioch’s white knight.”
Derr will continue to help Antioch gain accreditation and develop fund raising strategies from his new position at the Great Lakes College Association in Ann Arbon, Mich., where he will begin a two-year visiting fellowship.
Incoming president Mark Roosevelt begins his tenure on Jan. 1, 2011.
See the Dec. 16 issue of the YS News for full coverage of Derr’s farewell reception.
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College leaders seek community collaboration in renovated gym
- By Diane Chiddister
- Published: November 4, 2010
Alumni leaders of the revived Antioch College presented their plans for a college/community wellness center at a public meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 26. About 50 people attended the gathering in Herdon Gallery.
“We’re talking about a greatly enhanced resource,” said alum and preservation specialist John Feinberg regarding the Curl gym and pool, which leaders want to upgrade to a state-of-the-art wellness center that benefits both the college and the community.
Architect Dean Brookie displayed the floor plan of the envisioned facility, which he said grew from many discussions with villagers regarding their needs and desires in a wellness center. The college has already invested about $120,00 in the gym, which was shuttered when the campus was closed for a year. Since the college re-opened a year ago, leaders have repaired the roof and drainage, among other projects.
Read the full article at http://ysnews.com/news/2010/11/college-leaders-seek-community-collaboration-in-renovated-gym
Antioch board chooses Roosevelt as new president
Mark Roosevelt is the new president of Antioch College, following a vote by the college pro tem board of trustees on Sunday, Oct. 17.
“The board voted unanimously to appoint Mr. Roosevelt to the college presidency. He has spent his career as an advocate and an agent of institutional change,” said Lee Morgan, chair of the pro tem board, in a college press statement. “The board is confident it has selected a strong leader who will guide the College on its road to revival.”
Roosevelt, currently superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, has already resigned his Pittsburgh job effective Dec. 31. He will start his new position at the beginning of the year, according to Antioch College Communications Director Gariot Louima. Roosevelt, his wife, Dorothy, and their 4-year-old daughter will move to Yellow Springs.
“I am honored to become the next president of Antioch College and inspired by its history and the many people who made the College such a remarkable place to learn and work,” Roosevelt said in the statement.
Interim President Matthew Derr will continue as the college’s chief executive officer until Roosevelt begins his job, according to the statement. In January, Derr will begin a new position as visiting fellow at the Great Lakes College Association, or GLCA, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The board vote came at the end of the college’s Founders Day weekend, a three-day celebration of the college’s 160-year history and its first year as an independent liberal arts college since being closed in 2008 by Antioch University. The revival followed a two-year effort by alumni to resurrect the closed college.
The Antioch College Alumni Board and the Antioch College Board of Trustees both met in Yellow Springs during Founders Day weekend.
Roosevelt, who visited campus last week, was one of two finalists for the presidential position, but the second finalist dropped out due to that finalist’s discomfort with the public nature of the last stage of the process, according to Louima. Last Wednesday, Oct. 13, Roosevelt gave a presentation and answered questions at a well-attended public forum on campus.
At that event, Roosevelt described as “awkward” the call he received from the college’s search firm months ago, when the firm asked if Roosevelt would consider being a candidate for the presidency of a college that was at the time closed.
“You kind of absorb the words,” he said, speaking of his surprise. “Then they told me it was Antioch. Those words had power to me.”
The week before coming to campus, Roosevelt had resigned his job as the Pittsburgh schools superintendent, which he held for five years. During that time, he led the schools through an ambitious reform effort. When he resigned from that position, Roosevelt stated that he was a finalist for the Antioch College presidency, and that, if offered the position of president, he would accept it.
For a more detailed story on the board decision, see the Oct. 21 News.