Tag: Letters

A Letter to the Antioch Community from the ACCC

Dear fellow Antiochian,

As you’ve probably heard by now, some exciting developments took place over the break. The Antioch University Board of Trustees has agreed to explore the feasibility of granting full independence to Antioch College. If such a move is approved, the College will have its own board of trustees, one devoted exclusively to supporting the innovative approach to curriculum, co-op and community governance that makes Antioch such a vital and creative force in higher education. The goal that so many in the Antioch community have strived for is at last within sight .

We are the directors of a new non-profit group – the Antioch College Continuation Corporation – that has been formed specifically by alumni of the College to negotiate its complete independence. We came together quickly in December, when it became clear that major donors would not support the Agreements in Principle previously approved by the University trustees. That agreement, the donors felt, kept in place an unnecessarily complicated governance structure that has failed to serve the best interests of the College. Although our group is new, we are not newcomers to this process: We have been actively involved in the community-wide effort to save the College since last June, and have been working closely with the Alumni Board to find a way to keep Antioch open.

We created our group, in the best traditions of Antioch, to be as inclusive as possible, while providing the financial resources and educational expertise needed to demonstrate to the trustees that independence is in the best interests of the entire University. All nine of us are Antioch alumni. Both of our co-chairs are former presidents of the Antioch College Alumni Association, and three others of us are currently serving as elected members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. One of us is a former community manager, and one is an emeritus member of the faculty and a former Dean of Students.

Our goal is to negotiate an agreement with the University trustees, no later than the end of February, that would transfer all assets of the College to the ACCC on July 1 of this year. If such an agreement is approved, the ACCC will work closely with the Antioch community to create a new Board of Trustees, recruit a world-class president, and mobilize the resources essential to stabilizing the College and building on its tradition of excellence and innovation. As a group, we have personally committed $8.5 million to this goal, and already have an additional $11 million on hand in cash and pledges. We have also formed committees with open membership to begin addressing a range of transitional issues from technology to governance; these committees are co-chaired by College faculty and alumni, including Alumni Board leaders.

Our executive committee visited campus in December – we encourage you to listen to the podcast of our community meetings at and talk to those on campus with whom we met. In addition, most of us will be on campus on January 26 for a full day of meetings with the entire community – students, faculty, staff, and Adcil. We look forward to meeting with you, to answering any questions you have about these remarkable developments, and to working together to make the goal of an independent Antioch College a reality.

Sincerely,

Frances Degan Horowitz ’54 (co-chair)
Eric Bates ’83 (co-chair)
Laura Markham ’80 (secretary)
David Goodman ’72 (treasurer)
Steve Schwerner ’60
Catherine Jordan ’69
Lee Morgan ’69
Barbara Winslow ’68
Terry Herndon ’57

YS Citizens for Keep Antioch College Open Support College Faculty Vote of “No Confidence.”

September 13, 2007

Dear Antioch University Board of Trustees,

As villagers and recognized stakeholders with an interest in the future of Antioch College, we are both hopeful and concerned regarding the fast moving events of recent days. We have been impressed by the hard work of the Alumni Board, the College faculty, staff, students, and the many in the Yellow Springs Community who have worked so hard to keep our beloved Antioch College open.  Out of this crisis, together we are creating a great opportunity.

We are hopeful because Antioch’s Development and Alumni Relations (per agreement with the Alumni Board and the Antioch University Board of Trustees) is now under the control of the Alumni Board. Important steps towards the establishing an independent governance structure for the College are being negotiated as the necessary foundation to make significant fundraising possible. The task before us is considerable.

Clearly, in order to accomplish this daunting task, all of us will need to put our best efforts forward and sustain those efforts over time. Much creative energy working in concert will be needed; we cannot afford to be divided or divisive in our actions.

Because such cooperation and trust are needed, we are gravely concerned by the actions and mixed signals from Toni Murdock, which continue to undermine these efforts and, in so doing, threaten the survival of the College.

Distrust was again fanned by her actions taken August 31, when Steve Lawry, the College President, was abruptly ousted from his position, banned from the College campus, and directed not to speak to faculty, staff or students. The same day, without explanation, the Alumni and  Development Office staff were locked out of their emails, their office locks were changed, and they were directed not to speak to Alumni.

When so much more than trust is needed, these kinds of actions seriously jeopardize the hard work before us. For this reason, we feel we must join with the Antioch College faculty and their vote of  no confidence in the University Chancellor, Toni Murdock. We call upon the Antioch University Board of Trustees to seriously consider their support of Ms. Murdock at this time. For time is of the essence.

To succeed in our efforts to save the College, we must all work together in good faith. Our opportunity is now; this opportunity will not come again.

Tony Dallas
Don Benning
Donna Sanders
Judith Wolert-Maldonado
Don Wallace
and YS Citizens for Keep Antioch College Open

Letter of Concern from AAUP to Antioch University Administrators

by Paul Fain, Chronicle of Higher Education, Friday,  August  10,  2007

The American Association of University Professors has sent a letter of concern to officials at Antioch University over the decision by its Board of Trustees to shut down Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, next year.

“We were deeply surprised and disappointed to learn that members of the faculty were not consulted prior to the board’s actions with regard either to the declaration of financial exigency or to the suspension of operations,” wrote Anita Levy, an associate secretary of the AAUP, in the letter, which is dated August 7.

Ms. Levy criticizes Antioch for reducing faculty members’ role in governance, and her letter addresses worries that tenure might be eliminated at the college if it is reopened. The AAUP has apparently not begun an official investigation of Antioch, and Ms. Levy could not be reached for comment on the question of whether an investigation was planned. “We await further developments with interest,” the letter concludes.  [Read the Full Text of the Letter Here]

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

Letter to UBoT from Nancy R. Crow, President of the Antioch College Alumni Association

By Nancy R. Crow, President of the Antioch College Alumni Association. Tuesday, August 7, 2007

To: Chairperson Art Zucker, Members of the Antioch University Board of Trustees and Members of the University Leadership Council

From: Nancy R. Crow, President of the Antioch College Alumni Association

Date: August 7, 2007

I write to you on behalf of the Antioch College Alumni Association Board, the elected representative body of the 17, 000 or so Antioch College alums. We are looking forward to the August 16th webcast and of course to the August 25th special Board of Trustees meeting. Many of us have received our notices and have responded and are making our travel plans. Like you, we want this meeting to be productive, to move the agenda of rebuilding our Antioch College forward, and to find ways to raise funds and other support for our alma mater. We also agree wholeheartedly with your statement published in the Yellow Springs News that “it is critical that we have the participation and support of Antioch College’s key stakeholders in this process.”

However, we believe in order to garner the support and participation of the “key stakeholders in this process,” “key stakeholders” have to be both invited and allowed to participate in every step of the process, and as of now this has not taken place. Therefore we propose the following:

1) A conference call should be scheduled between now and the 19th of August to review and refashion the agenda that the Antioch University Board of Trustees has proposed. In addition to the Antioch University Board of Trustees Executive Committee, which sets the University Board of Trustees agenda, both the Executive Committee of the Alumni Board and representatives from the key stakeholder groups you have identified, that is, faculty, staff and students and Yellow Springs Community, should be invited to this discussion. If you want stakeholders’ participation and support, the agenda must reflect the interests of all the stakeholders and not just one group.

2) In order for the August 25th meeting to have a positive outcome, we strongly urge you to rethink a number of your statements and agenda items:

a) It is not conducive for a productive meeting to begin by saying in advance that any position taken by this Board of Trustees is “irreversible,” and to warn invited participants that only certain discussions at this meeting will be allowed. Why not let all the stakeholders discuss the parameters of the Board agenda before the August meeting begins?

b) The two hour open mic does not seem likely to lead to a positive outcome. Two hours, with five-minute time limits allows for 24 speakers, that is, if there are no pauses, time between speakers, technical glitches, people going over their time allotment and so forth. An open mic, with board members listening to one speaker after another, with no organization and no coherence will just lead to greater frustration and alienation. Furthermore, Mary Lou LaPierre’s remarks about the possibility of “disruptive and disrespectful” participants did not set the best tone. Perhaps we could think of other ways to use this two-hour framework. For example, why not allow the alumni representatives to present their ideas? Why not allow a former board chair or former trustees to present a proposal? Why not allow the faculty and the student representatives some time to present their points of view as well? And if there are other stakeholders who have presented you with proposals, have them be invited as well. In this way there can be a range of proposals for all of us to discuss in the afternoon session.

c) Finally we urge you to rethink the idea of a closed meeting. It is our heartfelt belief that had this board notified all stakeholders, alums, major donors, faculty, staff, former college presidents, former trustees and board chairs, the Yellow Springs community last fall, when there was the first realization of the depth of the financial crisis, and called upon all of us to work together to find a solution, there would be greater unity, participation and most important solutions to solving the college’s problems. The more the University Board shrouds itself in secrecy, the greater the alienation from the very stakeholders it needs for the future of the college.

We look forward to working with you. We want a positive outcome at the August 25th meeting, as well as at the October joint University Board of Trustees and Antioch College Alumni Board meetings.

AU Board of Trustees Announces Web-based Financial Discussion on the Suspension of Operations at Antioch College

Published Wednesday, July 25, 2007

By Arthur J. Zucker Chair, Antioch University Board of Trustees

Dear Antioch Community,

Based on what the Antioch University Board of Trustees has heard, from Antiochians during Alumni Weekend and through a variety of communications, we’ve concluded that we haven’t effectively communicated the process leading up to the Board’s decision on June 9 to suspend operations at Antioch College. It’s reasonable that all Antiochians should understand the rationale behind that decision and we intend to share all the financial details that led to this decision.

To accelerate this process, we will provide a web-based financial discussion that will take place on Thursday, August 16, at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. By using this technology, all interested parties will be able participate. Following this, we have scheduled a special board meeting on Saturday, August 25, in Cincinnati. The morning session will be a town hall meeting, followed by an afternoon session with invited participants from key stakeholder groups.

Antioch University Chancellor Toni Murdock and I will conduct the August 16 web-based presentation to share with the Community all of the financial information that served as the basis for the Board’s resolution – information which demonstrates clearly that the current business model cannot be sustained. During this presentation, we will provide the facts and figures that were seen, studied and discussed by Board members between the November 2006 and June 2007 meetings.

You can join the conversation in real time through Internet access. In the next few days, information will be provided on how to join the presentation. You can find this on the Antioch College website, www.antioch-college.edu. This process will also provide the opportunity to send questions to Chancellor Murdock and/or to me via e-mail, before, during and after the presentation. Following the web seminar, we will post the conversation, as well as questions and answers, on the Antioch College website so anyone can access the information in the future.

Overview of Antioch College Finances (www.antioch-college.edu)
Web Presentation by:
Board Chair Art Zucker and Antioch University Chancellor Toni Murdock
Thursday, August 16, 2007
8:00PM EDT/5:00PM PDT

This web seminar is open to all interested parties. The goal is to provide financial information that will enable us all to understand the rationale for the Board’s decision. From this point we can then, collectively, begin the efforts to re-build
Antioch college. To participate: Log onto www.antioch-college.edu. Further details will be posted on the website in the near future.

The August 25 special board meeting, to be held in Cincinnati, is the next step in the process of working together to re-build Antioch College. It is felt that starting this re-building process cannot wait until our regularly scheduled meeting in October, and it’s critical that we have the participation and support of Antioch College’s key stakeholders
in this process. The meeting in Cincinnati will consist of two parts:

•The first part will be an open forum where any member of the Antioch Community will be able to provide their vision for the future of Antioch College.

•Given the morning conversation, the second part of the day has been set aside for invited stakeholder representatives to meet with Trustees. This will involve a facilitated discussion to continue charting a strategic plan leading to the reopening of the College.

Specifically, the Cincinnati sessions will include:
Open Forum Meeting With the Board of Trustees (www.antioch-college.edu)
9:00AM – 11:30AM EDT, location to be determined.
Saturday, August 25, 2007

The forum will allow alumni, current students, faculty, staff, Yellow Springs business and community leaders, donors and others to share their visions with the board and senior administrative leadership. Please visit www.antioch-college.edu after August 3, 2007, for further information on the guidelines for the meeting, details on the format and meeting location.

Stakeholder Discussion Session with the Board of Trustees (www.antioch-college.edu)
1:00 – 5:00PM EDT, location to be determined.
Saturday, August 25, 2007

Key stakeholders representing the Alumni Association, faculty, staff and students, and Yellow Springs Village leadership will be invited to attend the afternoon session.. Names of key stakeholders will be submitted to the Board and the individuals will participate in a facilitated discussion with the Antioch leadership team. This meeting will focus on the process to move toward re-opening Antioch College by 2012. Please visit www.antioch-college.edu in upcoming days for additional information on the meeting format and for further details on the meeting agenda. It is important to recognize that the Board has made the decision to suspend operations as of July 1, 2008. The Board will not reverse that decision. The Board has instructed the senior leadership to develop a plan leading to re-open the College at the earliest possible time, with a target date of 2012. This plan will require the involvement and cooperation of all of Antioch College’s stakeholders. It is hoped that during this meeting we will begin the process of working together collaboratively.

Sincerely,

Arthur J. Zucker
Chair, Antioch University Board of Trustees