THE ANTIOCH RECORD

Referendum Issue #1: Vote of No Confidence in Antioch University Chancellor Tulisse Murdock

Antioch College is grounded in values of democratic shared governance, the worth and dignity of every individual, and the pursuit of social justice. These values have withstood over 150 graduating classes, two world wars, and 21 College Presidents, but right now these values are being threatened more than ever before.
Tulisse Murdock, Chancellor of Antioch University, has violated long-standing Antioch College values, community standards, and the Civil Liberties Code. Line six of the Antioch College Civil Liberties Code states, “We regard these as fundamental necessities of genuine education, individual worth and dignity, and democratic government.” Under Chancellor Murdock’s leadership the Civil Liberties Code has been violated and democratic shared governance has been stifled. The College’s financial stability and reputation have been repeatedly damaged over the past two years by Chancellor Murdock’s administrative decisions, which in many cases also circumvented the College’s shared governance policies. We acknowledge that problems have existed between the College and university long before Chancellor Murdock took office, however, Murdock has failed to bring the two institutions into right relationship and has never been an advocate for the College.
Chancellor Murdock’s removal of President Steven Lawry and her formation of a new administrative team is cause for question. Both President Lawry’s removal, and the formation of a new administrative team, occurred without the consultation of any of the College’s structures of shared governance. Weeks after the fact, Chancellor Murdock came to a meeting of the Administrative Council to answer questions about the recent changes in College administration. We found her answers incomplete and unsatisfactory, and we have yet to receive a candid account of the events of August 31, 2007. The administrative shake-up has damaged the College’s reputation and decision-making abilities at this critical juncture in Antioch’s history.

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JointCil Moves to Present Referendum to Community

  “Unanimous.” AdCil chair Andrzej Bloch thus took note of the result of the vote taken by AdCil and ComCil members, united around the table of Main Building’s conference room on Tuesday morning. A special session of JointCil had been called to approve the submission of a referendum to the Antioch college community; a course of action not required by the Legislative Code, but that would add extra legitimacy to the process according to ComCil student member Sarah Buckingham. “We’re here out of good faith asking you to please be a part of this.”

Before bulking up into JointCil, the heavily agendized  meeting had started as a traditional Administrative Council. Director of Business Operations Deb Caraway presented its members with the budget for the current academic year. College COO Andrzej Bloch specified that the budget had been drafted under the auspices of the suspension of operations, and that, in the case of a reversal of the board’s decision in late October, another budget would promptly be presented to AdCil. Union member Carol Braun asked why the budget was presented to AdCil so late, “It seems like it was postponed even before the decision to suspend operations,” she said.

Bloch responded that college president Steve Lawry had been working on the budget until the last minute–the end of April– because of the uncertainty in enrollment numbers for the upcoming year.“It was a moving target,’” he commented.

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AdCil Still in Shambles

Three empty chairs
The absence of Toni Murdock, Art Zucker and Steve Lawry in main building’s conference room at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning might not have been a surprise for AdCil members, but they nonetheless expressed their dissatisfaction. The invitation drafted by the Administrative Council at the first meeting of the term had been transmitted to the University Chancellor, the Chair of the Board of Trustees and the College President (on administrative leave since August 31st) in a formal letter signed by college COO Andrzej Bloch. Bloch reported that the recipients had acknowledged the invitation but that their coming to AdCil would have to be postponed until Art Zucker came to Yellow Springs.  Faculty member Hassan Rahmanian was not satisfied by Bloch’s explanation, “I don’t know if the letter conveyed the urgency of the situation. It’s a question of crisis of legitimacy.”

Letter of the law vs institutional values
Bloch asked Rahmanian to clarify the statement “crisis of legitimacy,” as, according to Bloch’s reading of the events, there is none; AdCil is not to be consulted when dismissing or choosing the college president. As to leadership, Bloch specified that he was running AdCil as CAO/Dean of Faculty, which is standard procedure for when a president is on a leave of absence. “There is letter of the law and there is historical consolidation of traditions and values of an institution,” contested faculty member Hassan Nejad, pointing out Antioch’s history of shared-governance, “These are values that we preach, we tell our students to uphold these values, we tell the world that we cherish these values, the feeling is that these values are not being honored and respected by higher-ups.”

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AdCil in Quest of Identity

“We should close more often” quipped Kim-Jenna Jurriaans walking into a packed Main Building conference room at 8am on Tuesday. The first Administrative Council of the term was unusually crowded with community members looking for answers amidst the current bureaucratic fog. AdCil thus faced the difficult task of addressing the most pressing matters on the college’s administrative agenda while facing an existential crisis of its own. Where does AdCil fit in the newly recomposed power flow chart with no president to advise and no clear chain of command and accountability ?
“Keeping as many students as we can”
Director of Admissions Angie Glukhov and Associate Professor of Economics Janice Kinghorn presented an update on the operations of the Office of Transition in the summer and reiterated its present role as a facilitator for students seeking a plan B for a worst-case scenario in October. A series of events are planned in the current of the week to help secure these options for non graduating students; on Friday the 14th, representatives of Antioch University campuses will present their undergraduate as well as graduate programs; on Saturday the 15th, a panel representing 35 colleges will be on campus.
“I have a hard time sharing the enthusiasm of the transition team” declared Faculty member Hassan Rahmanian, expressing reservations about the OT advocating for transfer rather that staying in a more passive, responsive role. Kinghorn replied that for the approximately 100 students who will not graduate in the Spring, the approach “I love Antioch but I want to keep my options open” was the most responsible at this time. She asserted the Office of Transition’s commitment to “keeping as many students as we can” should the college remain open.
The Meanders of Accreditation
Faculty Member Patricia Mische asked COO Andrzej Bloch whether the college was in danger of losing its accreditation. Bloch explained that Antioch College is independently accredited by the Ohio Board of Regents. In case of a reversal of the decision to suspend operations at the college, a delegation from the OBR would visit campus to evaluate its potential for accreditation. The college is also accredited nationally by North Central Association as part of Antioch University. The issue of whether the college should receive separate accreditation from NCA under the Revival Plan is currently under debate as it would entail a very lengthy process and binding requirements such as enough funds to operate for three years.
The Waiver Issue
When the question of the “student acknowledgment of suspension of operations of Antioch College” was raised, Bloch reiterated his statement that the Ohio Board of Regents recommended that a statement be drafted to make sure that all students were informed of the graduation and walker requirements. As to who drafted the waiver, Bloch declared “We started to write the document, it was edited by our legal council and then it came back to us”, and admitted that the legal council might have been “overzealous” with the language.
“If anything goes wrong, you can blame me”
As the issue of the governance structure was brought to the table, Bloch clarified the positions of the administrative team. Milt Thompson remains the Vice President for Student Affairs and Services; Lynda Sirk is the Special Assistant to the COO for Institutional Advancement and Public Relations and Andrzej Bloch is Chief Operations Officer and Chief Academic Officer. As to what these titles imply, it was more difficult to reach a consensus around the table. Lynda Sirk will be a liaison between institutional advancement and the COO and will work to facilitate discussion between the Board of Trustees, the chancellor and the alumni board. While she is primarily paid by the College, the University contributes to part of her salary. Andrzej Bloch stressed that his functions were essentially those of a president, “So if anything goes wrong, you can blame me” he said. Debate arose over the conflict of interests resulting from the concentration of the roles of CAO and COO in the hands of a single person. Faculty Member Hassan Nejad pointed out that on AdCil, the president and the Dean of Faculty are two distinct ex-officio voting members; and that no other institution of higher education allowed for the combination of these two positions. He then raised questions about the relevance of AdCil in the circumstances: “I don’t know what AdCil can do if most of your directions come from across the street” he told Bloch.
“An institution known for democratic process, openness and transparency ”
The process by which Steve Lawry was made to step down and Andrzej Bloch appointed COO was criticized as contrary to college policy. Bloch denied there having been any breech in protocol, “I don’t remember AdCil ever voting to appoint the president,” he said, “it has always been the prerogative of the Board of Trustees and the Chancellor”. Nejad insisted that in the past, search committees had been appointed and AdCil consultation sought. He expressed the concern that this breach in institutional procedure undermined the legitimacy of the college’s leadership. “This is an institution known for democratic process, openness and transparency,” he declared, “we have not seen that in the past few months. It is very troubling.” Andrzej Bloch responded by stressing that he was merely an interim between two systems. If the college were to stay open, then the new Board of Trustees would proceed in due form to the appointment of a new leadership. “The process of consultation is different in different times” he concluded.

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ComCil / AdCil Election Results

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