Tag: Alumni_Board

Descendants of Horace Mann Exhort UBoT to Vote in Favor of the Alumni Board Proposal

From: The Mann-Dole Family
To: Board of Trustees of Antioch University
Date: August 24, 2007

We are writing on behalf of our extended family which has deep ties to Antioch College. Four of the below co-signers are direct descendants of Horace Mann. Eight members of our family across three generations are Antioch alumni (Marjorie Welsh Dole ’46; Arthur A. Dole, Jr. ’46; Barbara Dole Acosta ’84; Steven Mann Dole (w) ’73; Margaret Welsh ’28, deceased; Harvey Welsh ’22, deceased; Barbara Mann Chandler ’42, deceased; and John Chandler ’42, deceased). This extended family includes educators, community activists, scientists, peace activists, homebuilders and social workers who have been profoundly influenced by the values embodied in Mann’s famous exhortation, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humankind.”

In the past, our family has donated substantial funds as well as several invaluable pieces of furniture (desk and dining room table) and memorabilia belonging to Horace Mann. We made these donations specifically to Antioch College to preserve the legacy of Horace Mann and to support the mission of the college. John and Barbara Chandler were both particularly generous supporters during their lifetimes and included a sizeable gift to the College in their will. Their intent was to allow others the opportunity to be exposed to the same liberal ideals they received during their college educations. They would join us in feeling bitterly disappointed and betrayed by the misappropriation of the resources we have donated through the years.

Our family strongly opposes the threatened closure. We reject the Board of Trustees’ reasoning for this closure, and we stand firmly opposed to any plan that would threaten the Antiochian principles of democratic community governance and academic freedom. It is the trustees’ responsibility, in our view, to assure that the Yellow Springs campus remains open as a residential college with a full-time, tenured faculty. There appears, however, to be a conflict of interest between the well-being of the satellite campuses and that of the college. We therefore support the position that Antioch College be goverened by an independent board of trustees.

We exhort the board to vote in favor of the Alumni Board Proposal. We pledge to continue our financial support to Antioch College only under these conditions, and will actively oppose anything less.

Signed,

Arthur A. Dole, PhD, ABBP (’46)
Marjorie Welsh Dole, MS (’46)
Barbara Dole Acosta, PhD (’84)
Kenn Chandler (Horace Mann descendant)
Janet Chandler, MS (Horace Mann descendant)
Richa (Horace Mann descendant)
Marty Chandler Miller (Horace Mann descendant)

Alumni Board Responds to the Faculty Resolution of Support

by Antioch College Alumni Association, Friday, August 17, 2007

In recognition of the commitment the faculty are making to the future of Antioch College, the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association expresses its deep gratitude. We share your dedication to the uninterrupted continuation of Antioch College as an independent liberal arts college with a tenured faculty. We believe that your efforts to save Antioch College will contribute to the greater health of higher education by reinforcing the need for faculty participation in collegiate governance.

Nancy Crow, ’70

President of the Antioch College Alumni Association

Alumni Seek Opportunity to Return Antioch College to Prominence, Canceled Webcast Delays Process of Averting Suspension of Operations

by Antioch Alumni Association, Friday, August 17, 2007

For the first time in more than a generation, Antioch College has the opportunity to reemerge as a healthy institution with leadership devoted solely to its future. While the opportunity is born of a crisis of governance and financial mis-steps, the alumni of Antioch College are now seeking to reclaim and rebuild the 155 year old liberal arts college known for rigorous academic study, cooperative education, social activism, and community governance.

The Board of Directors of the Alumni Association encouraged its 17,000 members to participate in a webcast with University Chancellor, Dr. Toni Murdock, and Chair of the University Board of Trustees, Arthur Zucker in the hope that respectful dialogue would foster the transparency necessary to assess the needs of Antioch College. Alumni Board Treasurer, Rick Daily expressed his regret that the University elected to cancel the webcast based on the advice of counsel because of a pending lawsuit filed recently by members of the Antioch College faculty.

On behalf of the Alumni Association, Nancy Crow ’70, President of the Alumni Board, recognized the faculty for the commitment they have historically made and continue to make to Antioch College. “We share the faculty’s dedication to the uninterrupted continuation of Antioch College as an independent liberal arts college with a tenured faculty. We hope that their efforts will not be misused as a rationale by University leadership to avoid participating in the conversation that will lead to returning Antioch College to prominence,” said Crow.

Some of the financial information that informed the University Board of Trustees’ suspension decision is already avail-able in many different public forums. What has been missing for over two months has been the opportunity to discuss the financial details in an open conversation between Antioch College alumni and University leadership. The Alumni Board repeats its request for a full and frank discussion of the College’s current finances and future governance, and it expects that information to be presented at the University Board of Trustees meeting at the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport on August 25. The Alumni Board believes that the chosen venue will be less conducive to broad participation than would Kelly Hall at Antioch College; however, the Alumni Association will participate.

The Alumni Board will also extend that dialogue this weekend, as College alumni chapters in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and 20 additional locations will gather at events during Support Antioch College Weekend August 17-19, in order to raise awareness and to increase the already widespread support for the revival of the College.

Antioch College alumni reaffirm their commitment to open discussion of the future of Antioch College with the participation of the Board of Trustees and other stakeholders. Members of the Alumni Board, elected by the College alumni, look forward to that discussion’s being based on the Antiochian values of full community involvement and the free and open exchange of information.

Supporters Committed to Raising Necessary Funds

Antioch College Revival Fund

Established in June 2007 by the Alumni Board of Antioch College in response to an attempt by the University Board of Trustees to suspend operations of the 150 year-old historic college, the College Revival Fund, Inc. is an Ohio non-profit corporation established solely for the benefit of Antioch College to ensure its continued operation. Alumni have raised $625,000 in cash and pledges to date for the College Revival Fund that is under the full control of the Antioch College Alumni Association. In addi-tion, there are expressions of interest in contributing to a revived, self-governed Antioch College that are in excess of $2 million.

Antioch College

Founded in 1852, Antioch College is a private undergraduate liberal arts college located in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Antioch College is a leader in American higher educa-tion and has been recognized for many generations for academic rigor, innovation and social justice. The College was among the first to offer women and men an equal academic curriculum, offer faculty equal compensation regardless of gender, among the first to offer African-American students access to a college education, and among the first non-sectarian colleges in the United States. The College counts many noteworthy alumni in all fields.

Alumni Seek Answers Regarding Financial Condition of Antioch College

Online Information Session Provides an Opportunity

Members of the Antioch College Alumni Association welcome the opportunity to pose questions to Art Zucker, Chair of the University Board of Trustees and Toni Murdock, Chancellor of the University in an online dialog scheduled for Thursday, August 16 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Our alumni are strongly encouraged to visit the Antioch College website at www.antioch-college.edu to post questions in advance.

The Alumni Association, representing over 17,000 Antioch College alumni, rejects the decision made in June by the University Board of Trustees to suspend operations and has been instructed to negotiate a path that will avoid closure. It is also acknowledged that the Alumni Association must take up the lead to raise the funds necessary to strengthen Antioch College to ensure that it is strong and ready to welcome generations of new students.

“Important questions need to be answered in this session. It is our hope that the University Board of Trustees will take this opportunity to disclose, in a fully transparent fashion, the financial circumstances which led them to justify such a drastic action.” -said Nancy Crow, ’70, President of the Antioch College Alumni Association. The Alumni Association will be prepared with a response for the media immediately following the online session.

Antioch College Revival Fund

Established in June 2007 by the Alumni Board of Antioch College in response to an attempt by the University Board of Trustees to suspend operations of the 150 year-old historic college, the College Revival Fund, Inc. is an Ohio non-profit corporation established solely for the benefit of Antioch College to ensure its continued operation. Alumni have raised $625,000 in cash and pledges to date for the College Revival Fund that is under the full control of the Antioch College Alumni Association. In addition, there are expressions of interest in contributing to a revived, self-governed Antioch College that are in excess of $2 million.

Antioch College

Founded in 1852, Antioch College is a private undergraduate liberal arts college located in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Antioch College is a leader in American higher education and has been recognized for many generations for academic rigor, innovation and social justice. The College was among the first to offer women and men an equal academic curriculum, offer faculty equal compensation regardless of gender, among the first to offer African-American students access to a college education, and among the first non-sectarian colleges in the United States. The College counts many noteworthy alumni in all fields.

Former Trustees Reply to Art Zucker, Chair, Antioch University Board of Trustees

by Barbara Winslow, Former Trustee, Current Antioch College Alumni Board Member. August 10, 2007

Dear Trustees,

Thank you for Board Chair Art Zucker’s prompt reply to our letter of July
28.

We greatly appreciate the Board of Trustees’ commitment to resolving Antioch’s structural and governance issues. As Art mentioned, the suggestions in our letter are in agreement with the substance of the governing structure that has been previously proposed. In fact, during our time on the Board these issues were discussed repeatedly. These are not new ideas, but they are certainly ideas whose time has come.

You mentioned that it is heartening when former Trustees demonstrate their commitment to Antioch. You’ll be excited to hear that since sending our letter to you, a number of former trustees have asked to become signatories to the letter, so that twenty former Trustees are now asking that you act on our proposal at the August meeting. As you can see by their names below, these committed Trustees include the past five Board Chairs as well as three Vice Chairs.

Among us, we have a total of 165 years of experience in service to Antioch as Trustees. We are intimately familiar with Antioch College¹s challenges as well as its strengths. We all feel strongly that the first and immediate step on the road to rebirth must be the creation of a separate Board of Trustees for Antioch University/Yellow Springs, with the power to hire and fire the College President and administer the College, and with responsibility for both Antioch College and McGregor, as detailed in our previous letter.

We cannot emphasize strongly enough how taking this step at your August meeting will send a strong signal to all Antioch College alumni, major donors, and others who care deeply about the College, that the current Trustees are serious in their intentions. We believe that such a strong and immediate signal is essential to building the trust necessary for there to be any hope of raising the considerable amount of money that will be needed to re-open the College.

We are delighted by your invitation to work with you toward the goal of re-opening a stronger Antioch College. Given your positive response to our suggestions, we would like to begin that partnership by including a subset of the signatories below as participants at your August Board meeting.

While we understand that you are inviting various stakeholders to speak with you on Saturday to represent their constituencies, we must observe that we are not stakeholders, but statespeople. We are all former Antioch University trustees, including the last five Board Chairs. We share with you the unique experience of having functioned as guardians of the whole University. We respectfully request that you include us in at least part of your closed session on Sunday.

We realize this is an unusual request, but Antioch is in unusual circumstances. We ask that you broaden the brain trust leading the rebirth the College by including another 165 years of Antioch Trustee knowledge, experience and wisdom. (Since this was originally drafted, 4 trustees, Spock, Granai, Ayoub and Richards signed on with 30 combined years of service)

We understand the pressure you are under, and your fiduciary responsibility to insure the long-term fiscal sustainability of all units of Antioch University. We believe we can assist the Board in regaining the trust of the alumni, major donors and other stakeholders so that everyone who loves Antioch College can begin moving in the same direction, towards rebirth. We are sure that our expertise and our commitment to this mission will make us invaluable contributors and help effect a positive and united outcome.

We know that you are as committed as we are to Antioch College rising like a phoenix from the ashes, reborn, healthy, and once again educating students to win victories for humanity. We look forward to working with you to light the way forward.

Sincerely,
Dan Kaplan*-11 years of service
Laura Markham -2
Barbara Winslow**-12
and
Eric Bates 4
Tamara Guzik Bliss 2
Susan Boren 13**
Leressa Crockett – 12
Cynthia Fuchs Epstein-11
Zelda Gamson**-9
Alan Gartner 3
Jewel Graham – 3
Meg Hansson – 6
Frances Degen Horowitz- 6
Bob Krinsky*-20
Pegene McPhaden – 9
Karen Mulhauser- 14
Larry Pearl* – 5
Jordan Tamagni -2
Hardy Trolander* -6
Malte vonMatthiessen*-15
Ed Richards – 10
Ed Granai – 10
Judith Spock – 12
Vic Ayoub – 2

* Former chair
**Former vice chair
(Each name is followed by the years of service as an Antioch Trustee.)

Barbara Winslow

Antioch College Alumni Association Proposal for Governance and Fundraising to the University Board of Trustees

August 8, 2007

Antioch College Alumni Association

A Proposal for Governance and Fundraising
to the University Board of Trustees

2007 – 2008
I. Introduction

This proposal was written by a group of alumni on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Antioch College Alumni Association to be presented to the University Board of Trustees in advance of its emergency meeting to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 25-26, 2007. This document represents the alumni commitment to secure the future of Antioch College as an undergraduate, residential, liberal arts college, on its historic campus in Yellow Springs.

This is a good faith effort to save Antioch College. We call upon the University Board of Trustees and all those who care about the College and its unique place in American higher education to assist us with the efforts outlined in this proposal. Remembering the legacy inherited from Horace Mann, Arthur Morgan, and countless others, we assert that Antioch College, having faced financial adversity many times throughout its history, will again thrive.

II. Mission Statement

To rebuild Antioch College as a financially stable and vibrant liberal arts college providing a model education based on its traditional values of academic rigor, celebration of diversity, community governance, cooperative education, free and open inquiry, intellectual freedom, and mutual respect.

III. The Shared Challenge

The Board of Directors of the Antioch College Alumni Association can lead a broad based effort to raise sufficient financial support to ensure the future health of College. This financial support is only available to an Antioch College with independent administrative leadership in charge of its own future and with its own Board of Trustees. The current model of governance has not served the needs of the students and faculty of Antioch College or the University.

IV. Priority Goals

The goals, objectives, and implementation steps below comprise our approach to moving the process of saving Antioch College along quickly in order to avoid prolonging the effects of the proposed closure. These priority goals establish our firm commitment to independent governance for Antioch College and our full acknowledgment that the alumni must take principal responsibility for raising the funds necessary to secure the future of the College.

1. To re-establish Antioch College as the autonomous institution it was for more than 130 years.

Objectives:

A. To transfer governance of the College from the University Board of Trustees to the Board of Directors of the Antioch College Alumni Association on July 1, 2008.

Implementation steps:

1. As instructed by the Antioch College alumni at Reunion and as defined in the unanimously accepted Revival Resolution, our elected Alumni Association Board of Directors is charged with negotiating the transfer of governance with the University Board of Trustees.

B. To secure the assets of Antioch College and separate them from those of the University.

Implementation steps:

1. Obtain an independent and complete audit of the restricted and quasi-endowment, and document any and all restrictions attached to those funds for the use of Antioch College.

2. Identify and negotiate the transfer of all assets historically and programmatically associated with Antioch College on its campus in Yellow Springs, Ohio, including, but not limited to: its historic name and reputation, restricted and quasi-endowment, campus land, campus facilities, auxiliary programs, Glen Helen, WYSO, teaching faculty, staff; and, where deemed appropriate, the assets of all Antioch University campuses where the establishment of those programs and the development of those facilities was achieved with the financial support and direction of Antioch College leadership.

3. Obtain an independent and complete audited financial statement for Antioch College including any and all liabilities that are directly associated with the administration and operation of the College.

C. To establish a temporary Governance and Administrative Transfer Council (GATcil) to negotiate the process with the University Board of Trustees over the next ten months led by the President of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

Implementation steps:

1. The elected Alumni Board of Directors will determine the size and composition for GATcil and the scope of its duties related to negotiating and preparing for the transfer, including the appointment of the new Antioch College Board of Trustees for July 1, 2008 and the search for a College president to be appointed on the same date.

D. To clarify and define any future relationship of Antioch College with the University, and specifically with University programs in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Implementation steps:

1. GATcil will negotiate with the University Board of Trustees and the Chancellor of the University, the future of the programs in Yellow Springs. In particular, great effort will be exerted to respect and meet the needs of students, staff, and faculty in all programs.

2. Continue current fundraising efforts while planning for the launch of a comprehensive and sophisticated five-year fundraising program emphasizing capital, annual, and planned giving.

Objectives:

A. To develop fundraising goals based on our aspirations for the future of Antioch College, not simply the present emergency born of the plan for suspension of operation.

Based on study of a cohort of 10 liberal arts colleges of similar stature and with which Antioch College traditionally has shared applications for admission, the Alumni Association projects the need to secure an endowment of $100 million by FY13 to be competitive for students and faculty. However, these projections need to be informed by a transparent and thorough audit and review of the current state of institutional finances.

Implementation steps:

1. The Alumni Association Board of Directors will select a small group of experienced alumni fundraisers to conduct a feasibility study and a specific fundraising plan to be presented at the October meeting of the University Board of Trustees.

2. Alumni Association Board of Directors will investigate the potential value of retaining professional fundraising counsel.

3. Upon successful completion of governance negotiations, fully integrate College fundraising staff and resources with the Alumni Association’s College Revival Fund.

B. Ensure that the current funds raised for the College Revival Fund earn income.

Implementation steps:

1. Form an investment committee of the Alumni Association composed of experienced finance talent who can provide oversight of current funds raised.

V. Other Goals Related to the Transition

During our planning process and in our conversations with supportive alumni and other stakeholders, additional overarching goals emerged for the immediate future.

These goals are:

• To end the continuing damage to the historic and valuable reputation of Antioch College by quickly resolving the issues of governance in order to ensure the uninterrupted continuation of Antioch College as in institution of higher education with a tenured faculty.

• To request that the University Board of Trustees instruct the Chancellor of the University to cancel the plan to establish a “Design and Development Commission” and to cease any present or ongoing efforts to develop or liquidate assets.

• To quickly undertake a concerted effort to repair the damage done to the reputation of Antioch College by developing a comprehensive public relations response to the recent events, presumably by engaging a professional communications firm.

• To undertake a marketplace study in preparation for launching a new and comprehensive enrollment planning model for Antioch College, presumably by engaging a professional admission recruitment marketing firm.

VI. Vision of Antioch College

Having avoided any suspension of operations and having retained its students and fine faculty, Antioch College celebrates the 160th year since its founding in 1852. It is a stable and financially healthy residential liberal arts college ably led and with an enrollment of 800 students and a small but, dramatically increased endowment of $100 million or $125,000 per FTE. The physical plant of the College has been greatly improved through a combination of fundraising and fiscally responsible planning.

The Antioch College curriculum, led by a tenured faculty, provides a rigorous academic program of study in the context of important real-world issues and it exposes students to a variety of transformative processes for positive change. The curriculum is delivered through the three cornerstones of an Antioch College education: academics, co-op, and community.

Antioch College attracts a diverse student body and maintains a civil environment with respectful debate in which students learn how to engage and make meaningful change in the world. An Antioch College that embodies the historic mission of Horace Mann in educating students to win victories for humanity is truly a reality once again.

VII. Business Plan

Under development as of 08/08/07.