Month: August 2007

Not in the job description

cms.jpgInterview with CG Operations Manager Corri Frohlich & Events Manager Rory Adams-Cheatham

By Paige Clifton-Steele

Where were you when you found out about Antioch closing?
Rory: We were told about the closing of the college in Steve’s office. Our jaws dropped literally. I felt sick and sad and angry. We took a drive together in the CG van and couldn’t believe that it was true. Then we attended the address together, where Steve Lawry made the announcement to the entire community.

What duties have you taken on that you didn’t expect to have to do?
Corri: This summer has been a hard summer for everyone who has been working at the College. We all have had to accommodate the announcement and incorporate different tasks and duties into our jobs. This goes for everyone, faculty, union staff, non-union staff and CG. In CG, our weekly meeting count kind of went off the charts for a bit. We attended oh so many Save Antioch meetings and facilitated some. I joke that I’ve become Antioch’s official minute taker. And I am a contact/conduit for various alumni who want to keep in contact with the College.
Rory: One of the many things that has drastically changed is my idea for events this year. I am trying to get Alumni back on campus as much as possible. Not only to help with the efforts of saving Antioch, but also to make connections with people. There are so many amazing alumni I have met through all of this I want more people to meet them. Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring people together. Anyone who wants more information about these efforts in specific, come talk to me or email me.

Can you talk a little about your personal reaction to the announcement of the closing and the furor following that?
Rory: At first I was in shock. I didn’t know what to do. I got really angry and upset. I felt overwhelmed, but charged with a notion to do something. All I knew was that I couldn’t sit back and watch Antioch College ‘suspend operations’ leaving a shell of an institution. Antioch would not be the same without our faculty, our staff, our governance system, the three things which will be lost if operations are suspended. And I have never learned so much about facilitating and organizing as I have this summer, not on any co-op, never.
Corri: I was heart-broken. Antioch College is a place I believe in and have worked very hard at for the past 4 years. To hear that BOT members, who are only at the College every other year, determine that the College must “suspend operations” was infuriating, I feel that the lack of procedure in order to come to this decision was a dereliction of duty at best and calculating at worst. I’ve been so impressed and inspired by the faculty, alumni, YS residents, College staff, and other Antioch College devotees who have spent countless hours organizing and planning around the effort to save Antioch College. It’s also very heart-warming and encouraging to see those same groups of people work so hard to give the students a great year, regardless of their feelings on the BOT’s decision.
Can you tell us about your plans for the upcoming term? What’s the first party going to be?
Rory: I have a number of events planned for this year. The first party is the weekend of Orientation. I am planning and hoping to have a party every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I also have a number of events planned that are focused around getting alumni on campus. I also have some academic events planned (academia is so fun). Check the today board on First Class for a calendar.
What does all of this mean in terms of the formulation of a CG budget?
Corri: It means endless hours of frustration! There was quite the snafu in budget calculation in the beginning of the summer; I had spent weeks working on it and then the announcement came and all bets were basically off the table, as far as enrollment numbers go. The number I was originally working on was 289, and now I have dropped that number to 160 to calculate the CG budget. Because our enrollment is so low, our budget has shrunk accordingly. I’ve tentatively finished the budget for now, but I’m waiting until the first week of classes to get an accurate number and then I will propose my new budget to ComCil for approval.
You must have talked to a lot of alumni lately. What’s your impression of their attitude? Is there any unity in their position? What recurring themes show up when you communicate with them?
Corri: Fortunately, the alumni have been doing a great job of keeping in contact, specifically with CG. I’ve been able to communicate and work with alumni on their various action items, specific interests and committees. Alumni continue to amaze me with their dedication and commitment to the school that is matched with intensity of action. In regards to whether or not there is unity in their position, I think there is an over-arching commitment to keeping the College open and most points are agreed upon but there are still divisions about the best way to go about making this change happen. Some recurring themes that come up are problems with the governance structure of the entire Antioch system, poor stewardship from the BOT, and the lack of process in coming to this decision. Some other themes that come up are their willingness to help us, faculty, staff, students, and the College in whatever way they are needed, and their inspiring, morale-boosting, and infectious attitude.

Do you have ideas for how off-campus students can help Antioch, or deepen their connection, while away on leave or coop?
Rory: There are a number of Alumni all over the world who want to get connected with students. This connection does not just have to be about saving Antioch College. If you are on co-op or away from Yellow Springs and want to get connected with area alumni, please email me at vadams@antioch-college.edu . I am working with Alumni Board member Tim Eubanks on making these connections happen.

Letter from Jean Gregorek in response to Ralph Keyes

Jean Gregorek, Associate Professor of Literature, responds to Ralph Keyes’s “Present at the Demise” published in the Chronicle of Higher Education

Web Editors Note – Accessing Ralph’s letter at the Chronicle of Higher Education website requires a login but Ralph also recently posted this article here : ilfpost.org/?p=230 and this is the link provided above.

The comment thread on this article at the Chronicle is here: chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,39968.0.html

I would like to respond to Ralph Keyes’s essay “Present at the Demise,” which offers his observations on what has led the Antioch University Board of Trustees to announce the closing of Antioch College. I have been teaching literature full time at Antioch College since 1994. While Mr Keyes makes some comments that strike me as valid, on the whole my experience here has been quite different. Continue reading Letter from Jean Gregorek in response to Ralph Keyes

“The most important incoming class”

First-years explain why they decided to come in spite of it all

Ben Horlacher, First-Year, FL

I still remember my fingers trembling as I opened the envelope, I remember scanning the letter head to understand the gist of the words on the page. I remember screaming when I finally figured out the message the letter conveyed, I was necessarily excited about the next four years to be spent at Antioch.

I remember hearing the news from someone else, I remember thinking, “there is no way.” I remember reading every word on the web page, hoping that something somewhere would indicate that it wasn’t happening. I remember not wanting to talk about it.

When I first heard about Antioch, I felt myself drifting into its ephemeral attraction; I knew that somewhere out there was a place for me. I had spent a short lifetime searching for some place to embrace my weirdness in the way that Antioch already has. Having spent my high school years in the South, I was one of three openly gay men at my high school. So when I first visited Antioch I found something I had never known before, a place where I could speak my mind and people would respond not with jeers or cheers but equally informed, and passionately discussed ideas and opinions.

I was not looking for a liberal, or homosexual bastion, what I was looking for was a bastion for diversity. Where I felt my differences added to the community, not separated me from it. So when I heard it was closing, I was crestfallen. I knew that there may be other great schools, but nothing like Antioch. I felt like Adam leaving Eden, my sanctuary had been ripped out from under me like I was the glass of water on the table that had just had its table cloth ripped out so quickly it didn’t have time to fall.

Then the inevitable questions from friends and family: “Do you really want to go to a college that is closing?”, “Does it make any sense just to go there for one year?” In my mind there were no doubt; one year at Antioch was worth one-hundred years anywhere else. So it was odd when people asked me “Why Antioch?” To me Antioch was not the end of a question, but the answer to a question, “Why? Antioch.” The reason I would attend a college that was supposed to close was because it was Antioch.

Alex Borowicz, 1st Year, WI

On possibly the most beautiful day of  spring, I first stepped onto the Antioch campus. I was immediately struck by the old and wizened trees shading the campus grounds.

As I waited among the other prospective students collected within Weston Hall I tried to imagine the school covered with a fresh layer of winter snow.  The green trees overpowered the idea and I was brought back to the real world as Brad began his pep talk on the school.

Leaving the campus that evening after a dance concert, I remember talking excitedly to my sister about my day.  I told her of my time with the Order and Chaos class, the people I’d met, the campus and buildings.  The rough state of the buildings seemed nothing to me; I’d lived in places much worse in South America.  How could something like that hold me back from an education like this?

As the summer began, I first heard of the new fate of Antioch College.  I am not much of a sensationalist, and I took the hit stoically, but so many of the things I had come to Antioch to experience were slipping from my grasp!  I would never be able to go on a co-op, or participate in AEA… but I was sure there would still be something for me at Antioch.  I soon saw the outpouring of support for the college and I felt a surge of pride at the thought of attending an institution that was so loved, for it is only love that can drive students to follow a school to its death.
It is that sentiment that steadied my hand and signed the check for the tuition deposit.  How can one possibly know what this last year of Antioch will bring?  Whenever asked about my decision, all I can do is assure my friends that “it will be an interesting year.”  I have no doubt of this, and I can only hope that I take advantage of everything it offers me during the next 9 months.

“We have walked in your shoes”

Kim-Jenna Jurriaans

“We have walked in your shoes,” reads the beginning of a letter sent by twenty-seven former trustees and chairs to current members of the Board that oversees Antioch College and sealed its fate during a meeting in June. The group of various vintages joined hands in an attempt to reach out to the current board offering their institutional knowledge and professional perspective to assure the future existence of the 155 year-old Ohio College.

Continue reading “We have walked in your shoes”