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Interview by Rose Pelzl

Why did you agree to be a Pro Tem board member?

[...] this opportunity to recreate what Antioch should always have been. [...] An institution that encourages young people to think for themselves, to backup their ideas with actual rigor and, and to appreciate the conflicting ideas of others. [...] We have this great combination of an institution with a great legacy and at the same time has a pause in which we can really catch our breath and do what’s right without having to keep it running day to day.
[...] I didn’t want to disappoint anybody with my being on the board. I didn’t want people to assume that I had great buckets of money that I could give the college. I didn’t want anybody to assume that I had great huge amounts of time that I could give on a day to day basis to the college. So I think those were the two biggest concerns. [...] And they insisted. [...] they basically reassured me that I wasn’t going to be disappointing anybody. [...] So I agreed because I am very excited about the whole possibility of what we’re doing. And I resisted because I didn’t want to let anybody down.

By Rose Pelzl
Atis Folkmanis, ‘62, and his wife Judy, ‘63, are best known for their puppet pioneering, but did you know that Atis is also one of our Pro Tem Board trustees? In a telephone interview with the Record, Atis reflected on his time at Antioch, and laid out his vision for the future college.

Why did you agree to become a Pro Tem Board member?

Well, originally, before Pro Tem, I gave them a million dollars because, believe it or not, Antioch College brought my family from a refugee camp in Germany in 1949, and of course that’s changed our lives. I went to Antioch and grew up in Yellow Springs. (…) Given the situation I felt there wasn’t anything else I could do but do what I did, given that I had resources. This event was so important in determining the course of my life. If I hadn’t ended up in Xenia, Ohio, and Yellow Springs I would be a different person, you know? Growing up in Yellow Spring, given my background, was a good place.

What’s your vision for the new Antioch?

By Molly Thornton
At this point in time, we are all coming to the realization that the rollercoaster of the last three months is still rolling, and there is no end in sight. We are all at wits ends, and reaching dates in the timelines of our lives at which decision making can not be prolonged. In this time, the fight for Antioch can feel futile and exhausting, and better left abandoned than lived through for another moment. In this time of great struggle, and want to give up hope, the only thing I can think to do is to share with you some of the thoughts I sort through when in extreme doubt, which give me the strength to fight for one more day.

By Jeanne Kay

I wish I could celebrate. I wish I could have called Bard College this week thanking them for their patience but telling them that I will never enroll, instead of simply deferring again. I wish I could have sent an email to my friends and family back home that said ?The good news is that you?re invited again to my graduation ceremony in 2010. The bad news is, it?s still in Ohio.? I wish I could have let my yellow balloon escape, I wish the bell of main building had rung, I wish I could have gone back to being a normal student. I wish I could have felt relief.

The Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce, together with the Community Resources board and the soon to be dissolved Community Information Project, plan to establish an umbrella organization to become ?the new economic authority in the area? by January 1st, 2008. This is the bottom line of a proposal that Community Ressources member, Dan Young, presented on behalf of the three boards at a Village Council meeting on Tuesday.
In addition to seeking approval to establishment the Alliance by 2008, Young and co-signers to the Alliance proposal, CoC vice president Ellen Hoover and CIP representative Ron Schmidt, ask the council to allocate recently raised economic development funds to the amount of $250.000.
?It?s multi-year spending. And its primary purpose is finding someone who can spend half time, maybe full time, promoting economic development in the village.? commented, Glenn Watts, member of CR on Wednesday…