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ANTIOCH COLLEGE ALUMNI OUTRAGED AT UNIVERSITY’S REJECTION OF BID; Vow to Continue to Fight and to Support “NonStop Antioch”

COLLEGE REVIVAL FUND, INC.

For Immediate Release

CONTACT: press

March 28, 2008– Antioch College alumni working through the College Revival Fund, Inc. (CRF), restated their unwavering support for Nonstop Antioch today, in response to news that the University Board of Trustees had rejected a significant and viable offer by a group of major donors and educational leaders that would have enabled Antioch College to continue operating past the University’s June 30, 2008 date of closure.

Ellen Borgersen, Acting President of the CRF, said today in a statement: “The suspicion that the University Board of Trustees was negotiating in bad faith and not interested in saving the College has, unfortunately, been confirmed. Over the past four months, the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (AC3) labored mightily to put together an offer that would be a win-win solution for the University and the College, as well as for the community and for everyone who believes in what Antioch stands for.”

She continued, “We thank the AC3 for their tremendous efforts on the College’s behalf. However, in the wake of the University’s rejection of their offer, Antioch alumni, students, faculty and staff are prepared to go forward with our plans for Nonstop Antioch.” In late February, the CRF committed at least $1 million unconditionally to support this movement.

Nonstop Antioch is what alumni, students, staff and faculty dubbed the movement to keep Antioch College alive and operating in Yellow Springs in the event the AC3’s efforts were unsuccessful. It includes support for students, faculty and staff who have committed to staying in Yellow Springs to teach, learn, and keep the Antioch spirit alive. Nonstop Antioch also includes plans for fundraising, direct action, and litigation.

At its last meeting in late February, the Antioch College Alumni Board directed its Legal Committee to “explore all legal avenues to protect the name, assets and reputation of Antioch College.” In direct response to the AC3’s announcement today, an anonymous donor gave $10,000 to the CRF for legal expenses, and pledged more to come. The CRF is supporting litigation on behalf of students and donors, as well as the faculty’s lawsuit to enjoin the University and the Board of Trustees from closing the College or misappropriating its assets. That case is on a fast track, with depositions underway and a hearing on a motion for preliminary injunction set for April 1.

“The University and its Board of Trustees should be ashamed at what they have done to Antioch College,” said Borgersen, “but we will not let it die. The community, while saddened, is undaunted, committed, and most of all, passionate about Antioch and its future. Nonstop Antioch is just that—Antioch College for our time, and Antioch College for all time.”

Since the University Board of Trustees announced the suspension of operations in June 2007, alumni across the country have rallied to their alma mater’s defense. Alumni chapters have grown worldwide. The Alumni Board is continuing with its fundraising and planning efforts. For additional information on the Antioch College Alumni Association and the College Revival Fund, visit the Antioch College Alumni Association web site, antiochians.org.

ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY REJECTS ANTIOCH CONTINUATION CORPORATION BID TO SAVE HISTORIC COLLEGE

Good Faith Offers Would Have Permitted College to Continue

Yellow Springs, Ohio, March 28, 2008 – Antioch University has rejected a significant and viable offer by a group of major donors and educational leaders that would have enabled Antioch College to continue operating, the group announced today.

According to leaders of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC), negotiations to establish independence for the College broke off today after the University rejected the ACCC’s best and final offer. The University has announced plans to close the historic school in June, given its failure to boost enrollment and its inability to raise sufficient financial support from alumni disillusioned with the University’s mismanagement of the College.

“We are deeply disappointed that the University did not take this incredible opportunity to preserve Antioch College, which has long been one of the nation’s most unique and important institutions of higher education,” said Frances Degen Horowitz, co-chair of the ACCC and president emerita of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. “Our offer would have enabled Antioch College to thrive and grow, while simultaneously infusing the rest of the University with millions of dollars in cash.”

The ACCC, which has been negotiating for nearly four months to acquire the College’s assets, offered to reimburse the University what it called a “very substantial consideration” to take charge of the campus by June 30. Working closely with alumni leaders, the group had already raised $18 million to operate the College in the short term, and was preparing to launch a major fundraising drive to secure a total of $100 million to reinvigorate the school. In addition, the group had consulted with some of the nation’s leading experts in turnaround management to prepare a detailed five-year plan to increase enrollment and staffing.

“This is a sad day not only for Antioch, but for all those who care about progressive education in this country,” said Eric Bates, co-chair of the ACCC, who participated in the negotiations. “Presented with an opportunity to both fulfill its fiduciary responsibility and preserve the College’s historic mission, Antioch University chose instead to pursue a path that raises serious questions about its educational values and financial competence.”

The ACCC also noted that Horowitz, who has more than 40 years of experience as a leader in higher education, was prepared to take up residence at the College and make herself available full-time, without compensation, to serve as Chief Transitional Officer during the summer while the group recruited and appointed an interim administration for the coming year.

During negotiations, the ACCC worked diligently to forge an agreement that would serve the best interests of both the College and the University. In an alternative plan presented to the University Board of Trustees, the ACCC offered to contribute $10 million directly to the University in return for ten seats on the nineteen-member University board.

“This arrangement would have eliminated the immediate need for a costly and complex transfer of the College’s assets,” Bates observed. “In addition to ensuring continuous and uninterrupted operation of the College, it would have created a truly philanthropic board for the University – one that would have immediately contributed significantly more than the current trustees have reportedly given this past year.”

The new trustees nominated by the ACCC, Bates added, would have represented the interests of the entire University. “Six of the nine directors of our group are former trustees of the University,” Bates noted. “We appreciate the unique contribution that all of the Antioch University campuses make to higher education and we understand their diverse needs. We know from first-hand experience what is needed to revive the College and realize the full potential of the University’s other campuses.”

The University never formally responded to the ACCC’s proposal to reform the board of trustees. Nevertheless, the group said, it remains hopeful that the trustees will take up the proposal and adopt it while there is still time.

“The University can still recover from its disastrous and misguided decision to close the College,” said Lee Morgan, a director of the ACCC, whose family has been actively involved with Antioch for nine decades. “By adding new leadership and major donors to its own board, it can repair the serious and lasting damage it has caused to its own reputation and restore the confidence and support of alumni that is essential to any effort to revitalize the College. We hope that the trustees will act quickly to take advantage of this simple and effective solution to the crisis facing the University, before it is too late.”

For additional information on the Antioch College Alumni Association and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation: antiochians.org.

Antioch University and ACCC Have a “Productive Meeting”

ANTIOCH COLLEGE

News Release
March 18, 2008
Upon receipt

Antioch University and ACCC Have “Productive Meeting”

YELLOW SPRINGS, OH Representatives of both Antioch University and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation announced that they had a productive meeting today in their ongoing negotiations over the possibility of transferring the assets of Antioch College to the ACCC.

Art Zucker, chairman of the University Board of Trustees, and Eric Bates, co-chair of the ACCC, issued a joint statement on the status of talks. “Everyone is working together to come up with an agreement that will best serve both the College and the University,” they said. “The confidential negotiations are continuing with urgency.”

ANTIOCH COLLEGE ALUMNI, STAFF, FACULTY AND STUDENTS PICKET ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE REVIVAL FUND, INC.

ANTIOCH COLLEGE ALUMNI, STAFF, FACULTY AND STUDENTS PICKET ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY;
Urge Trustees to stop stalling in talks to keep Antioch College open

For Immediate Release

CONTACT

443-864-0514 | press

March 15, 2008–Residents of the Village of Yellow Springs and vicinity and Antioch College alumni, students, faculty and staff staged an informational picket today to urge Antioch University and its Board of Trustees to negotiate in good faith toward creating an independent, ongoing Antioch College.

In December of 2007, the University Board of Trustees began negotiating with the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC) to transfer Antioch College and all of its assets to the ACCC. These negotiations, say alumni leaders, have been undermined by a few members of the University Board of Trustees and its Chancellor, Toni Murdock.

“The University leadership is sending out misleading messages, breaching the confidentiality that they have imposed on the negotiations while insisting that the ACCC remain silent,,” says Ellen Borgersen, Vice President of both the Alumni Board and the College Revival Fund, Inc., a 501(c)(3) that has raised over $18 million dollars to date for a continuing, independent Antioch College with tenured faculty and unionized staff.

She continued, “The last straw was on February 22, when Interim College President Andzrej Bloch was sent back to campus from a University Trustees meeting and announced that the College would close on June 30, 2008. He acknowledged that negotiations with the ACCC were continuing, but claimed that the ACCC ‘agreed’ that the College would have to close. That was absolutely not true. In addition, the University Board of Trustees unilaterally sent out a damaging and misleading press release claiming that Antioch College would be closed for the 2008-2009 school year.”

This past weekend, College alumni met with students, faculty and staff to discuss next steps. What emerged from this weekend was a plan for Non-Stop Antioch. Alumni will support students, faculty and staff, financially and otherwise, in their efforts to keep Antioch College alive and open in Yellow Springs next year. If the negotiations with the ACCC are successful, Antioch College will continue, without interruption, on its beautiful and historic campus. If no deal is reached, Non-Stop Antioch will operate at another location in Yellow Springs, and fight to return Antioch College to people who will carry its great history and traditions forward in the 21st century.

“Non-Stop Antioch means Antioch College for our time, and Antioch College for all time,” Borgersen said.

Since the University Board of Trustees announced the suspension of operations in June 2007, alumni across the country have rallied to their alma mater’s defense. Alumni chapters have grown worldwide. The alumni are continuing with its fundraising and planning efforts. For additional information on the Antioch College Alumni Association and the College Revival Fund, Inc., visit the Antioch College Alumni Association web site, www.antiochians.org.

ANTIOCH COLLEGE FACULTY RE-FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY

Faculty Voice Unqualified Support of “Non-Stop Antioch” To Keep Antioch College Open

For Immediate Release. March 11, 2008 3:45 PM

March 11, 2008—Members of the Antioch College faculty today announced that they have re-filed their original lawsuit against Antioch University and its Board of Trustees. They had withdrawn their lawsuit without prejudice in November of 2007, which meant that it could be re-filed at any time.Ninety percent of tenured faculty members who are currently teaching and wish to be part of Non-Stop Antioch filed for a permanent injunction against the Antioch University Board of Trustees in the Greene County Ohio Common Pleas Court. The legal request for injunctive relief asks the court to enjoin Antioch University from suspending College operations, from terminating the employment of the College faculty, from disposing of any College assets, and engage with the ACCC to amicably complete their negotiations allowing the ACCC to take responsibility for the college.

After the Antioch College faculty withdrew their lawsuit in November, an alumni group known as the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC) formed to negotiate with Antioch University for ownership of Antioch College.

Two weeks ago, the University unilaterally announced that they would be suspending operations of the College for the 2008-2009 school year, even though negotiations to keep the college operating continued with the ACCC.

Antioch College Professor of Philosophy Scott Warren said “It’s clear that the University Board of Trustees is not negotiating in good faith. That leaves us no other choice but to re-file our lawsuit.”

The lawsuit alleges that the Board failed to govern the institution properly. First and foremost, the Board breached their contractual responsibilities by declaring a state of financial exigency and suspending College operations when less drastic measures were available. The faculty complaint also alleges that the University Board of Trustees violated contractual obligations set forth in the Faculty Personnel Policies and Procedures that require consultation with College faculty, and that require minimal external publicity about internal College financial matters. The faculty suit also asserts that decisions made by the Board of Trustees in 2004 and 2005 seriously damaged College enrollment, and that the June 12, 2007 public suspension announcement further damaged the College. Finally the lawsuit alleges that Antioch University currently has a less drastic solution than closing the College, in the form of an offer to take responsibility for the college and keep it running. The lawsuit alleges the Antioch University Board should honor their financial and contractual obligation to operate the College responsibly, by relinquishing ownership of the College to the ACCC who will keep the College operating.

Former College President and current Professor of Communications Robert Devine said that announcements from the University leadership were “messages of dubious origin and of dubious meaning” and that the Interim Antioch College President “has consistently obfuscated, distorted and misrepresented the situation.”

Last weekend two alumni groups, the Antioch College Alumni Association and the College Revival Fund, met with students, faculty, staff and Yellow Springs townspeople to discuss next steps. The College Revival Fund committed $1 million to support “Non-Stop Antioch.”

“Non-Stop Antioch means just that,” says Anne Bohlen, Professor of Media Arts. “We hope that the negotiations between the Board of Trustees and the ACCC are ultimately successful, but the Antioch University administration and the Board of Trustees have repeatedly demonstrated their unwillingness to resolve the situation despite an Alumni fundraising effort that raised 18 million dollars to alleviate financial deficits. They have consistently refused to negotiate with the College Faculty and our institutional governing bodies as required by their contractual obligations. They have regularly engaged in demoralizing tactics and have been especially eager to publicly defame the College faculty and students and we are taking legal action to redress the situation. Non-Stop Antioch means we are not going away, and with the support of the Alumni are planning to continue to offer Antioch’s excellent liberal arts and experiential education program into the near future.”

Since the University Board of Trustees announced the suspension of operations in June 2007, faculty, alumni, students, staff, and Yellow Springs townspeople have mobilized to keep the historic 155-year-old institution from closing. More information about the faculty lawsuit can be found on the website http://collegefaculty.org.

Anne Bohlen
937-760-7834
atbohlen

Susan Eklund-Leen
937-361-8092
susaneklund

ANTIOCH COLLEGE ALUMNI COMMIT TO “NON-STOP ANTIOCH”

— United Alumni Vow College Will Remain Open —

For Immediate Release

CONTACT: 443-864-0514 • press

March 2, 2008– The Boards of the Antioch College Alumni Association and the College Revival Fund (CRF), Inc., met this weekend and resolved to keep the legendary Antioch College alive and open in Yellow Springs, Ohio for the next academic year and beyond. In response to the Antioch University Board of Trustees’ unilateral announcement that the College would be closed on June 30, 2008, alumni met with students, staff, faculty and townspeople to plan for “non-stop Antioch.” Alumni Board President Nancy Crow said, “We will not let it die.”

Ellen Borgersen, Vice-President of both the Association and the CRF, told students in an on-campus meeting that the alumni are ” ready to say that Antioch College will be open in Yellow Springs next year, no matter how the on-going negotiations between the University Trustees and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC) turn out. We have willing and eager faculty, a dedicated student body and. The CRF has committed at least $1 million to unconditionally support them.”

Negotiations between the ACCC and the University Trustees continue, Borgersen said, “and we are hopeful that they will succeed. If they do, we’ll be ready to run the College on this campus without interruption. If they don’t, we’ll find someplace else in Yellow Springs to operate, and we’ll to fight to reclaim the campus and the College’s other assets from a University administration that seems bent on destroying everything Antioch has ever stood for.”

“But it’s time to stop pretending that the University is negotiating in good faith with the ACCC,” she added. “The University is clearly trying to force people to abandon hope and leave, knowing that it will be impossible to bring the College back once that happens. This is not only bad faith, it is untenable, and Antioch alumni will not stand for this deceptive behavior.”

The Alumni Board also directed its Legal Committee to “explore all legal avenues to protect the name, assets and reputation of Antioch College,” and resolved to “support, financially and otherwise” any legal actions that might be brought by faculty, students, staff, donors, and others with an interest in the survival of the College. The faculty already filed a lawsuit against the University and the Board of Trustees. It was withdrawn without prejudice last October, which means that it can be re-filed at any time.

“The alumni are working to continue Antioch College,” says Alumni Board President Nancy Crow. “The alumni are resourceful, passionate, energetic, and most importantly, persistent. Antioch College provides a unique and important education for America’s future leaders. Its survival is important not just for the Antioch and Yellow Springs communities, but for everyone who values liberal arts education and the critical role it plays in producing engaged citizens and vibrant democracies.”

Vice-President Ellen Borgersen adds, “The University Board of Trustees and the University Chancellor Toni Murdock should know that we are not going away. Non-Stop Antioch means Antioch College for our time, and Antioch College for all time.”