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

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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

Antioch State of the College 2008 Part 4 – Ellen Borgersen
Ellen Borgersen, vice-president of the Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors was the second person to speak at this years state of the college address on June 20, 2008 at 1 PM in Kelly Hall in the Main Building (Antioch Hall) on the Antioch College campus in Yellow Springs, OH. Part 4.
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Save Antioch College as a progressive residential liberal-arts college with a tenured faculty.

This petition was created in June 2008 and was open until September 2009. Over 1600 academic professionals signed and confirmed their signatures, for a full list click here for a pdf of the full text of the petition and all confirmed signatures

We, the undersigned higher-education professionals, urge that Antioch College be reopened as a four-year residential liberal-arts institution at the earliest possible time, so that it can continue its historic mission of educating students to–in the words of its first President Horace Mann–“win victories for humanity.”

Antioch University’s administration and Board of Trustees announced last year that the University would close Antioch College due to alleged financial exigency, without consulting the faculty or alerting alumni to the gravity of the situation. When alumni demonstrated significant financial support for an independent Antioch College, the Board rejected three viable plans to keep the College open. We believe that it is time for Antioch University to step aside and cede control of Antioch College to alumni and faculty holding the needed skills, resources, and determination to restore and maintain this institution.

In line with the recent Antioch University Board of Trustees resolution inviting a new proposal from the Antioch College Alumni Association, we call on the board to facilitate transfer of the College and its assets in a manner that will allow it to reopen as soon as possible under the able stewardship of faculty and alumni who have worked tirelessly to support this institution.

We applaud the work of Nonstop Antioch, a coalition of alumni, community members and friends dedicated to saving the College, and the ongoing parallel efforts of the dismissed College faculty to continue the Antioch College tradition of progressive academic and civic education in Yellow Springs next year. The Nonstop educational enterprise is built on Antioch’s core values, distinguished by high academic standards, a co-op structure of work and study, dedication to social justice, and community governance.

We urge that this tradition be preserved, along with the tradition of tenure and unionized labor, in the form of an autonomous Antioch College.