Tag: Letters

Letters respond to LA Times Op-Ed: “Womyn killed Antioch”

Letters in response to “Who killed Antioch? Womyn.” by Meghan Daum,

There’s more to Antioch
July 6, 2007

Re “Who killed Antioch? Womyn,” Opinion, June 30

Well, women have been blamed for ruining the human race since one of us sought knowledge and ate an apple, so why not lay the death of Antioch College at our feet as well? Antioch’s admittedly lamebrained attempt at a “please ask and I may say yes” date-touch policy was developed in response to some instances at the college of male hormonal overenthusiasm. Better this policy, however, than instances of rape and worse like those at other U.S. universities.

Antioch is hardly obscure, nor a laughingstock. And don’t count on reports of its premature death. If the outpouring of e-mails calling alums to arms and half a million dollars raised in less than 24 hours are any measure of an institution’s heartbeat, Antioch is alive and well. Absent that, it will exist always in those who take seriously the college’s famed motto: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” Not a bad way to lead a life. Or run a school. Eve would have been a graduate, for sure. And we would have been thrilled to have her.

VICTORIA HOCHBERG

Antioch College alumna

Hollywood

•

For 18 years, my wife has taught biology at Antioch College. During those years, I have met hundreds of students, and almost to the last one, they were respectful, mannerly, curious almost to a fault, intelligent and never boring. Their maturity and independence — founded partially, I am sure, in their worldwide co-op experiences — in my experience exceeds that of their contemporaries. Then, these committed students leave to become respected in many fields. In other words, the same cross-section of America emerges from Antioch that other colleges send out into the world every year.

When Antioch’s sexual-offense prevention policy (now adopted by other unmentioned universities) and the foolish claim that independent thinking is absent receive more attention than the contribution its graduates make to our society, I can only conclude that Meghan Daum is more interested in maligning Antioch than enlightening us about the remarkable legacy this college and its graduates have left.

WILLIAM V. DYER

Dayton, Ohio

Community Managers’ Letter to the Yellow Springs News

It has been widely reported that the Antioch Community was outraged as they converged on campus this weekend for the largest reunion in recent history. In the purest Antioch tradition of turning outrage into action, we came together in what will surely be considered an historic moment.

Approximately 15 past and present Community Managers put forth a strategy to utilize the talents and energy of the more than 500 passionate and dedicated people who attended the reunion. Current CM’s presented the framework during Saturday’s Community Meeting, and attendees then divided into workgroups to focus on specific actions.

The CM’s then got to work to transcribe and unify the efforts of the afternoon into a single document and pledge cards. Within 20 minutes of the reading of the document, $100,000 had been raised. Within 18 hours, that number was in excess of $424,000.

In an impressive show of unity across generations, alumni, students, faculty, and staff worked together to create a vision for the future. Our collective will to struggle against threats to end the Antioch College legacy inspired several days of intense planning and hard work; the strongest demonstration of the Antioch education in shared governance and respectful, democratic process.

As we return to our respective corners of the world, there is an incredible shared sense that we will win this fight for our values and our institution, if for no other reason than that we must.

Please donate to the College Revival Fund
USBank Account #130 110 698 524

Rory Adams-Cheatham, Community Manager 07-08
Chad Johnston, CM 01-02
Shannon McCarville, CM 02-03
Dietrich Delrieu-Schulze, CM 01-02
Tim Noble, Administrative Council 01-02

From the students who sat in at Main Building

Alumni,

As of 2/28/07, Antioch College no longer has a Dean of Students position.  The Director of Auxiliary Services will now be called the Vice President of Student Affairs and Services and will assume the responsibilities associated with the Dean of Students. This is not the only institutional change that has occurred recently. Ten positions have been cut today, while ten other positions have been vacated and are not planned to be re-instated. This decision was not made with any larger community input. The decisions that were made not only affect the individuals dismissed, but the community at large. The decision to cut these positions also has deeper implications for the structure of the community and has devastating effects on community governance. As you all are undoubtedly aware, the foundation of Antioch College is predicated on the three C’s: Community, Co-op and Classroom. Community has been infringed upon.

Community governance is a reality that generations of Antioch students have cherished and reflected upon. When a decision of the enormity that has been undertaken today is made unilaterally and without community input, it invalidates the worth of collective sentiment and renders less meaning to community input. With a Dean of Students position in a lesser hierarchy than it was originally intended, Community Government suffers. Budget deficits and financial disparity are the reasons cited for these employment cuts. We need alumni support to challenge these administrative impositions.

As members of the Antioch community, we want the re-establishment of the Dean of Students position and a written statement by President Steve Lawry to formally recognize AdCil and ComCil as directed in the LegCode. Our former Dean of Students, Jimmy Williams, has served Antioch College for 17 years and has proven to be an indefatigable link between students and the administration and is a wonderful student advocate. His position needs to be re-instated. We have provided the letter to the community from Steve Lawry and the contact information for the Board of Trustees and President Steve Lawry. Please help us retain the integrity of our institution by contacting the individuals accountable for these actions and by expressing your discontent. There will be a meeting between students and President Lawry on Thursday morning at 9 am. This is an urgent matter; if you can send your e-mails beforehand or forward this e-mail to the addresses listed as signatories, it would be very helpful. Thank you for being allies of the Antioch community.

In solidarity,
Antioch College Radicals