Tag: Alumni_Board

Community Meeting 8/8/08 at 5:00 PM

UPDATE: Live streaming is a go! This meeting can be heard here live. Please note that the connection over which this meeting will be broadcast cannot be fully guaranteed but staff on the ground are doing their best to provide this service to the Community. A recording of this event will also be available immediately following the meeting at listen.antiochians.org

Community Meeting! This Friday, August 8, at 5 p.m., there will be a Community Meeting at the new Nonstop Institute house, 113 N. Davis St. Lee Morgan and Matthew Derr, the Antioch alumni representatives on the Task Force, will be there. Agenda items include:

  • updates on the Task Force
  • Nonstop/CRF structure and trusteeship
  • the transition from Nonstop to the revived Antioch College.

Refreshments will be served. We will attempt to stream this meeting live; please check antiochians.org for more information as it becomes available. If we are unable, due to technical issues, to stream this meeting as it happens, we will record it and podcast it as soon as possible.


Antioch College Alumni Association Creates Framework for Plan to Open an Independent Antioch College with Support from Antioch University Board of Trustees

PRESS RELEASE [Download]

Great Lakes Colleges Association

535 W. William, Suite 301, Ann Arbor, MI 48103

www.glca.org

Phone: 734.661.2350 Fax: 734.661.2349 white@glca.org

The Antioch University Board of Trustees [Trustees] and the Board of Directors of the Antioch College Alumni Association [Alumni] have agreed to move expeditiously to create a new, fully independent, Antioch College to reopen at an early date.

In response to a request from the Trustees to create a process for an independent Antioch College, the Alumni sev-eral weeks ago moved to create a collaborative taskforce to assist with the development of plans requested by the Trustees. The objective of this process is to craft a comprehensive strategy to allow Antioch College to begin to rebuild immediately as a fully independent institution while not jeopardizing the well-being or prospects for growth of the remaining academic campuses of Antioch University. The taskforce consists of two representatives of the Alumni (Matthew Derr and Lee Morgan), two representatives of the Trustees (Dan Fallon and Jack Merselis), and the Great Lakes Colleges Association serving as an “honest broker” to function as advisor and facilitator through its president, Richard Detweiler.

The initial focus of the taskforce was to suggest a resolution, now adopted by both the Trustees and the Alumni, authorizing the task force to prepare a letter of intent outlining a full agreement. The resolution (full copy below) stipulates the shared premises of this work. The Corporation that is now Antioch University was called Antioch College prior to 1977 and includes, in addition to Antioch College, other campuses in Keene, NH, Los Angeles, CA, Santa Barbara, CA, Seattle, WA, and Yellow Springs, OH. The resolution emphasizes the common heritage shared by all of these institutions, and the commitment to separating Antioch College to stand alone as a fully inde-pendent residential liberal arts college.

The taskforce is currently interviewing legal and financial professionals who, working with and building upon the earlier work of the University and alumni-related groups, will provide independent counsel to the taskforce on the many issues involved in separating the college from the university. The taskforce expects to retain these experts soon.

Two grants of $50,000 each have been received in support of the work of the taskforce: one from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the other from the Morgan Family Foundation.

The Taskforce is moving swiftly. It is the express wish of both the Alumni and the Trustees that an agreement be reached as soon as possible.

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the elected Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors

(“Alumni”) agrees to collaborate with the Antioch University Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) to create the neces-sary process and plans and to identify the resources to sustain and strengthen Antioch College, a historic liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, OH.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Alumni and the Trustees authorize a task force (“Task Force”) to prepare a letter of intent for a proposed agreement to be presented jointly for their approval; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Task Force be comprised of two Alumni representatives, Matthew Derr (’89 Antioch College) and Lee Morgan (’66 Antioch College), and two Trustee representatives, Dan Fallon (’61 Antioch College) and Jack Merselis (’96 Antioch University New England). Richard Detweiler, president of the Great Lakes College Association, will also serve as a member of the Task Force as a neutral third party.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Alumni and Trustees agree that the Task Force will begin its work upon the following general premises:

1. It is recognized that the terms stated in this resolution are not intended to be complete agreements, but instead as guidelines for the preparation of one or more definitive agreements between the parties.
2. The resources to assist the Task Force will be administered with the assistance of the Great Lakes College Association, which will also serve as the locus for official communication.
3. The Task Force will jointly retain professional expertise to assist it in this collaborative process and will build upon earlier accomplishments in order swiftly to achieve its purpose.
4. The establishment of a separate non-profit corporation with 501(c)3 status and governance by an independent Board of Trustees represent the best avenue to vigor and long-term sustainability for Antioch College.
5. Operations at Antioch College should resume at the earliest possible time.
6. The corporation Antioch College was founded in 1852 and changed its name in 1977 to Antioch University. There is and always has been only one corporation. Therefore, Antioch College and other campuses of Antioch University all share one historic legacy.
7. Upon the separation of Antioch College, Antioch University is composed of campuses in Keene, NH; Los Angeles, CA; Santa Barbara, CA; Seattle, WA; Antioch University McGregor, Yellow Springs, OH; Antioch Education Abroad; and a University-wide Ph.D. program.
8. The Alumni and Trustees will collaborate in developing a plan for an exchange of assets that does not jeopard-ize Antioch University’s accreditation, creditors, or its financial well-being or prospects for growth, but that also allows Antioch College to begin to rebuild immediately.
9. Endowment and other funds and grants restricted to or intended for the use of Antioch College, excluding Antioch University, will become assets of Antioch College.
10. Endowment and other funds and grants restricted to or intended for the use of Antioch University, excluding those funds and grants restricted to or intended for the use of Antioch College, are assets of Antioch University.
11. The Alumni, with the assistance of the Great Lakes College Association, will provide the Trustees with an outline of an expertly advised business plan for Antioch College.

12. Collaborations between Antioch University and Antioch College in support of the respective missions and
needs of each institution will be encouraged as mutually agreed.

13. The Alumni will form a pro-tem Board of Trustees in preparation to assume fiduciary responsibility for An-
tioch College and to accept one or more definitive agreements.

14. The Task Force will proceed collaboratively to address and clarify at least the following issues:

a. The definition of the future real estate of Antioch College.
b. The definition of other future assets of Antioch College.
c. The status of any tax-exempt bond principal that is specifically associated with Antioch College.
d. How the name, trademark and sign associated, respectively or jointly, with Antioch College and Antioch
University shall be protected and reserved by either party or both parties.
e. The shared understanding to support and facilitate future fund-raising by both parties.
f. The rights of either party in the event of dissolution or change of mission for any reason by the other
party.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this document was written with recognition of the
historic importance of collaboration between the parties and the hope it signifies for future generations who, with
the benefit of an Antioch education, will commit their lives to winning victories for humanity.

###

Founded in 1962, the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) is a non-profit organization governed by twelve 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. For additional information contact: Charla White at 734.330.5122 or email Charla White.

Antioch College Revival Resolution 2008

June 22, 2008

Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni Association, the College Revival Fund (CRF), the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (AC3), the Antioch College Faculty and Staff, Community Government (CG), Antioch College Action Network (ACAN), and residents of the Village of Yellow Springs have worked diligently over the last 12 months to save Antioch College by  building a business plan, negotiating principles of agreement and letters of intent, signing petitions, marching, protesting and meeting numerous times with the Antioch University Board of Trustees to reach agreement for a separate and independent Antioch College with its own board of Trustees, tenured faculty and unionized staff; and

Whereas, the College Revival Fund staff and volunteers have raised over $18 million in pledges and cash donations from generous alumni and friends to support the operations of an independent Antioch College; and

Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni Association has come together across generations and across the world in support of saving Antioch, and

Whereas, the College Revival Fund has committed resources to hire Institutional Advancement staff and set up a Nonstop Antioch office; and

Whereas, the Antioch College faculty, CG and staff and the College Revival Fund have initiated, developed and committed $1 million to support the Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute as a way to sustain a core faculty and continue the “DNA” and spirit of Antioch College until the College is independent and under the authority of its own Board of Trustees and President; and

Whereas, the College Revival Fund and in support of Nonstop Antioch has embarked upon three concurrent strategies to win back Antioch College: 1) a response, with all due haste, to the Antioch University Board of Trustee’s Keene resolution to establish an independent residential Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio; 2) the Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute and 3) the investigation, preparation and support of litigation; and

Whereas, the Antioch College tradition of self governance is continuing through the establishment of Excil to take the place of Adcil and the continuation of Comcil during this transition time; and

Whereas, the Antioch University Board of Trustees is following through on its plan to close Antioch College on June 30, 2008 and has laid off the majority of faculty and staff; and

Whereas, Over 400 Antioch College Alumni attended the 2008 Antioch College Reunion representing the classes of 1946 through 2011, and

Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni Association recognizes the role and value of the Antioch University campuses in adult higher education and believes that the independence of Antioch College from the University affirms their mission in adult education and strengthens both institutions; 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, social justice and celebration of diversity, and

Whereas, the Antioch College Alumni would 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 in Yellow Springs, Ohio as a residential institution of higher education with a tenured faculty, respected adjunct faculty and unionized staff 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, social justice and celebration of diversity .

2.    The Antioch College Alumni Association instructs its elected Board of Directors to continue conversations, with all due haste, with the Antioch University Board of Trustees on the following:

a.    The complete separation of Antioch College from Antioch University.

b.    The transfer of the assets of Antioch College from Antioch University including but not limited to: the name “Antioch College,” its academic and cooperative education curriculum, Glen Helen, Antioch College’s restricted endowment, Antioch Education Abroad Program, Antioch Review, the Coretta Scott King Center, the Library and Antiochiana and all its holdings, the College’s electronic data bases and other electronic documents,  WYSO radio station,  the Antioch College’s physical plant, land and all other tangible and intangible assets to an independent Antioch College non-profit corporation.

3.    The Antioch College Alumni in attendance at the 2008 Reunion 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 other units of Antioch University and other interested parties to stand with us to raise the necessary funds for our three priorities (1)funding to support an independent Antioch College, 2)Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute, and 3) litigation;  and call to action all necessary support to continue the operations of Antioch College.

Approved by a majority vote of the Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors at its special meeting at 6:00pm on June 21st, 2008.

Approved by a majority vote of the Antioch College Alumni at the Reunion Brunch on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008.

Respectfully submitted by:
Catherine Jordan, ‘72
Member, Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors and AC3

Nancy Crow’s State of the College Address

The last time I stood with you in a tent at Reunion, in 2007, we came together not only to reminisce and catch up with old friends, but also to construct the Resolution that has inspired us and informed our actions over the past year since the University  boldly announced that it was suspending operations at Antioch College. The College Revival movement lived up to its name that night as we gathered under that tent, testifying to our Antioch experiences, to our beloved community, sharing stories that were so inspiring that we raised $400,000 in about two hours to support the uninterrupted continuation of the College we love and value so much. Your actions, ideas, fundraising, tenacity and passion are a constant inspiration, and I thank each and every one of you.

It was a bittersweet year; students wrote senior papers, went on co-op, worked in the Glen and garnered Fulbrights, while facing the spectre that this year could be our College’s swan song.  Now, the landscape has completely changed yet again. As you probably know, I was in Keene, New Hampshire two weekends ago at the first Board of Trustees meeting since the talks broke off between the University Board and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation. Alumni, students and staff also attended the meeting.

At that meeting, the University Trustees and administration, Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, and the Presidents of the other campuses affirmed their commitment to a healthy and independent Antioch College and acknowledged that could not happen without the College’s alumni.  The Trustees unanimously passed a Resolution calling for the Alumni Association to create the process, plans and resources to secure Antioch College’s independence from Antioch University, with its own board of trustees. The resolution also calls for the alumni to craft a plan for the transfer of assets from the University and a timetable for implementing that plan. Immediately, my multiple phones started ringing off the hook. Shortly thereafter, my email inbox completely filled up. Everyone wanted to know: what’s the next step? What are we doing? Here’s my idea, can we act on it? Here’s my plan, can we adopt it? Can we believe this? SHOULD we believe this?

I don’t have all the answers. I understand the skepticism many of you may have. This has been an exhausting year, filled with ups and downs, and more twists and turns than a midnight walk through the Glen. We thought that by now the College would well on the road to recovery, or at least in re-hab. But we’re on Antioch time…and it will take more time, more work, more invention and reinvention, working together in community, to revive Antioch College.

Even though I appreciate your skepticism, I remain optimistic. We have achieved so much, so quickly. Alumni have become re-engaged as never before. Donations and pledges arrive daily at the College Revival Fund.  The future of Antioch College is in our hands.  Working together with the incredible faculty, dedicated staff, eager Trustees and the supportive Yellow Springs community, the alumni community has demonstrated its commitment to Antioch College.  Together we will ensure that the next generation of leaders will graduate from Antioch.

It is once again time for fortitude and oceans of caffeine. It is time to complete the movement we launched under the tent at last year’s Reunion—the task of securing Antioch College’s independence as a liberal arts, residential college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, with a tenured faculty and vigorous curriculum, based on our values of shared governance, experiential learning, and community.

That’s great, you’re saying. But what are we DOING?

Here’s what’s going on right now: The Alumni Board is crafting a letter of intent with the Board of Trustees for the transfer of the historical assets of Antioch College to an independent College Board of Trustees. This letter will embody the principles of the Resolution passed unanimously by the alumni at last year’s Reunion. Once this letter is approved, it will be posted on antiochians.org and put out on the lists, so keep your laptops handy.

Once a letter of intent has been signed, the next step is to put in place a Board of Trustees for an independent Antioch College.  The Alumni Board’s Governance Committee has been developing qualifications for board members and identifying candidates for the past year.  The new Board will take responsbility for initiating a national search for a new College president and oversee the renovation of the College buildings and curriculum.   Also, after the letter of intent is accepted by the University Board, the incredible staff of the College Revival Fund—Risa Grimes, Aimee Mayurama, Fred Kraus, Wendy Ernst, Chelsea Martens, Robin Heise, Eric Miller, Cheri Robbins, and Stephen Duffy—will be going into full-on fundraising mode.

As the President of the Antioch College Alumni Association, I sit on the University Board of Trustees.  I know that the Trustees want us to succeed.

Make no mistake about it–no matter what happens, we are going forward.  You will have the opportunity this weekend to connect with faculty, to strategize in breakout groups, to attend Community Meeting, as well as to have fun, connect with your classmates and, of course, hop til you drop at Div dance. I can’t believe I’m saying this to Antiochians, but please remember to have fun this weekend.

I’m now going to turn over the floor to Ellen Borgersen, Vice-President of the Alumni Board and Acting President of the College Revival Fund. She’ll talk about Nonstop Antioch, her work with the faculty and staff and how it will fold into the revival of Antioch College. After her talk, we will be available for a question and answer session. I look forward to your questions and suggestions.

Nancy Crow

Alumni Board President

Ellen Borgersen’s State of the College Address, Plan B

The 2007 Reunion resolution called upon the Alumni Board to negotiate with the University for an independent College, and that’s been Plan A ever since.   Who knew? – here it is, still alive, a year later.

Alums have been asking all year, “but what if we can’t close a deal with the University?  What’s your Plan B?”   We’ve been working on Plan B since last fall, but it is in the nature of Plans B that they remain in the background, until the time comes to bring them to the foreground – which would be now.

The most obvious Plan B in a situation like this is litigation.  At Reunion 2007 there was a break-out group on legal strategies, and many alums wanted to sue the University right away – but most of the lawyers did not.  Lawyers know better than anyone that litigation is always a last resort:  it is costly, nasty, and anything but short.  However you calculate the costs of this past year of negotiations that have yet to bear fruit, one thing we gained is this:  no one will ever be able to say we didn’t do everything possible, and more, to avoid litigating.

One lawsuit was filed suit last August.  Members of te faculty sued the University for breach of its contractual obligations, which are spelled out in detail in the Faculty Policy and Procedures Manual, to consult with the faculty before declaring “financial exigency,” and to pursue “less drastic alternatives” to closing the College and dismissing tenured faculty.  That suit was voluntarily dismissed in October as a gesture of good will to move the negotiations forward, with the proviso that it could be re-filed at any time – which it has been, but I’ll come back to that in a minute….

At about the same time, a team of lawyer-alums began investigating other potential claims against the University.  One alum persuaded her very fancy Wall Street firm, Debevoise + Plimpton, to take the Alum Ass’n on as a pro bono client.  As of a few weeks ago, the time-value of their efforts alone was $350,000, and the work goes on.  My firm, Morrison & Foerster, has made it’s 800 conference line available for easily 10 hours of calls per week, for telephonic Alumni Board meetings, committee meetings, and conferences – this has invaluable in keeping us connected.  Others alum lawyers donated their time as individuals, including identifying, interviewing and retaining paid counsel.  And the work goes on.

The big-ticket item in complex litigation is factual investigation .   If you have spent any time at all on theantiochpapers.org, you know that we have a rockem, sockem investigative team.  They have put in hundreds of hours analyzing docs and meeting with lawyers to bring them up to speed.   Their latest effort was an intensive one, and for they first time they asked us for payment, still donating half their time.  We paid them a pittance – little more than token recognition of a contribution worth thousands and thousands of dollars.  We are thrilled to have them on our team.

So what has all of this effort produced?  There are six kinds of claims that we are supporting.  The central action is a “derivative” suit on behalf the Antioch University Corporation itself, for injuries inflicted on it by its Administration and Board, such as damage to Antioch’s reputation, its ability to recruit qualified students, faculty, and administrators, and the destruction of the U’s most valuable asset – Antioch College – by forcing it into closure.   The people with standing to bring this action are sitting Trustees.  And if the Trustees say no to the offer from the Alumni Ass’n that they have solicited – if they say no again, we will be looking to some of those Trustees to start this action.

Other lawsuits in preparation are claims by donors who contributed to the Antioch College, to either the Annual Fund or the Capital Campaign, at a time when University personnel knew that the College would be closed and failed to disclose that fact to donors; claims by students who were   promised, and awarded scholarships for a four-year Antioch education; and claims on behalf of donors of restricted funds that may have been misappropriated.

In addition, one of our alum lawyers – who does not practice in Ohio – unearthed an arcane Ohio statute …   5 of citizens of Green County may petition the the Attorney General to investigate breaches of fiduciary duty by the University Trustees, including their duties of care, proper accounting, and loyalty.

Our retained counsel have done their duty, and warned that these claims will be difficult to prevail on.  Trustees enjoy a presumption that they have acted in good faith; they are entitled to exercise business judgment, and they are entitled to make mistakes.  We will have to prove by clear and convincing evidence that they breached their fiduciary duties to the University – not just  the College.  Disclaimer – I am not licensed to practice in Ohio, I am not allowed to practice law for anyone other than my firm’s clients, and I am not acting as a lawyer in this case.  I am a coordinator and a potential plaintiff.  But I did teach civil procedure for 11 years, and my own personal view is that these claims will survive motions to dismiss on the pleadings.  Which means that we will get discovery.  And we may well discover other potential claims when we do.

The faculty lawsuit has already cleared that hurdle, and discovery is underway.  It’s basically a breach of contract claim.  The faculty’s contract – pol and proc manual – sets out very specific things Trustees were required to do before declaring financial exigency.  And they did none of them.  The contract also states that they may terminate tenured faculty only if the financial emergency “cannot be alleviated by less drastic means.”  Speaking as a lay person, it seems to me that the Trustees have been presented with three of four very viable alternatives to terminating our faculty and closing the College.

The other thing to say about litigation is that well over 90% of civil lawsuits settle.  So, in my personal opinion, we will get our College back.  The University now agrees with us that an independent College is in the best interests of both the College, and we will achieve that goal – it’s a question of how long it will take, and how much money will be diverted from the task of bringing Antioch College back to life as a thriving, residential undergraduate institution, restored to its proper place in the pantheon of American higher education, and graduating generations of students dedicated to winning victories for humanity.

And that’s where Nonstop comes in.  Nonstop Antioch is the political movement.  First Amendment.   The educational enterprise is not called Nonstop Antioch , b/c the university owns the trademark to use that name   has been named The Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute.

I’ve been privileged to spend much of this academic year on campus, and it has been a roller coaster.  There have been some very low moments.  The lowest was probably in January.   That was when the University administration announced, in the middle of a meeting at which the AC3’s initial proposal was to be presented to the Board, that the College would close on June 30 even if negotiations with the AC3 were successful.  It was a very, very dark moment on this campus.  The administration considered itself ethically obligated to kill off any ray of hope – which they called “false hope” – and for a short while it did.

But then people started realizing we’d hit bottom.  They’d done the worst thing they could do.  And that meant we were free.  The realization that a faculty and community that has been living under what Hassan Nejad calls “colonial occupation” for years – the realization that the faculty is now free to create the curriculum that they think Antioch College should be offering — has unleashed an enormous sense of liberation and creative energy.  You’ll be hearing more about that from the faculty.

Ellen Borgersen
Alumni Board Vice-President, CRF Acting President

Letter from AB President, Nancy Crow, Regarding Recent AUBoT Resolution in Keene, NH

Letter from Nancy Crow, 6/13/08

To the alumni of our beloved Antioch College:

As you have no doubt heard by now, this past weekend, in Keene, New Hampshire, the University Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution calling for the Alumni Association to create the process, plans and resources to secure Antioch College’s independence from Antioch University, with its own board of trustees. The resolution also calls for the alumni to craft a business plan for the transfer of assets from the University and a timetable for implementing that plan.

The full text of the resolution follows this letter for your review. Before I talk about what this resolution means and what we need to go forward, I must pause to thank the alumni and staff who came out to Keene to voice their love and support of the College. Not only were their questions and statements well articulated and strong, but their personal support to me as I went forward to represent the alumni at the Board of Trustees was much appreciated. I can’t thank you enough, and it means the world to me.

Now, what does this resolution mean? In essence, it embodies and endorses the principles of the resolution crafted and passed unanimously at Reunion 2007. That resolution calls for an independent Antioch College in Yellow Springs, with its own board of trustees, offering 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.

Alumni have asked: How is this resolution different from other actions of the Board of Trustees? It is startlingly different, because the University Trustees have now agreed to full independence and separation from the University. This isn’t the same agreement that held sway briefly back in November, under which the College would have its own board that reported to a university board of governors. This isn’t members of the alumni association taking seats on the board for the entire university. This is complete independence from Antioch University.

You might be asking: How do we know that this isn’t just more of the same, where we get achingly close and then the Board of Trustees votes down our plans?

This is a tough question for a number of reasons. We have to acknowledge that the past year has been harrowing—to say the least­–for alumni, staff, faculty, donors, and the Yellow Springs community who love Antioch College and want it to continue. All of us are justifiably anxious. Tempers have been frayed; lives have been derailed. We must come together as a community to restore the trust that has been lost and repair the damage that has been done.

Going forward, this is the first time the alumni have been asked to control the process for making a thriving independent Antioch College happen. In the past, we have worked within prescribed and restrictive processes. Now, we set the agenda; we come up with the timeline, we name the trustees of the new Antioch College Board of Trustees who will oversee the revival of Antioch College and take responsibility for its continuing health.

The most compelling reason for climbing back up on this horse, though, is something that did not happen in Keene. During the Keene meeting, Chancellor Toni Murdock presented her plan for Antioch College 2012—or, as she dubbed it, the Revival. (That has a rather familiar ring to it.). She outlined the appointment of a commission for going forward to bring the College back as part of the University. The Board of Trustees could easily have supported this plan. Instead, the Board voted unanimously to accept the Resolution below. That, to me, is the greatest indication of a sea-change on the Board of Trustees.

This resolution was a long time in coming and many of us are exhausted. Naturally, the goal is for Antioch College to be up and running as soon as humanly possible. However, there are issues of accreditation; the need for robust academic and co-op programs, physical facilities desperately in need of repair; admissions and recruiting; and many, many more. Nonstop Antioch continues to support the faculty financially, and academic planning continues as a part of that effort. Again, our goal is to be able to swing the doors wide open to new Antiochians as soon as we can. As we embark on this process, it’s important to be realistic and to understand what may be workable and consistent with our core Antioch values.

So what process are we putting together? Since last Saturday’s announcement, members of the Alumni Board have met with members of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, known to its friends as AC3. The AC3 has put in months of hard work already into crafting a business and fundraising plan, and we want to build upon that solid platform. We will waste no time in presenting a plan to the Board of Trustees. We have a lot of work to do before we come together next week at Reunion 2008.

We are also going to need to hear from you. Obviously we wouldn’t have made it this far without the strength, passion and tenacity of the alumni, the Antioch College community and the Village of Yellow Springs. We need your expertise, your passion and yes, your donations (antiochians.org/donate), as we lay the foundation for restoring Antioch College’s premier status as the place to prepare for a life of meaning and purpose. To learn more and to take on this new challenge, make plans to come to Reunion 2008. Online registration can be found here: reunion-antiochians.org.

We are still ashamed to let it die!

Nancy Crow, ’70
President, Antioch College Alumni Board

RESOLUTION

6.7.08:25

WHEREAS, the Antioch University Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) was forced by
financial exigency to suspend operations at Antioch College; and

WHEREAS, the Trustees are committed to resumption of operations at Antioch College
at an early time; and

WHEREAS, the Trustees have determined that Antioch College can best be brought to
health, vigor, vitality, and long-term sustainability through governance by an independent
board of trustees; and

WHEREAS, the Trustees stand ready to collaborate with the Antioch College Alumni
Association (“Association”) to achieve these objectives.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT the Trustees request the Association
create the necessary process, plans, and resources for the development of an independent
four-year, residential, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a business plan for
the transfer of assets from the University, and to present those plans to the Trustees for
their consideration and approval and that the Association present its timetable for
implementing this request to the Trustees.