Month: November 2007

Letter from Nancy Crow, President, Antioch College Alumni Board

The Antioch College Alumni Board is calling for the retraction of the November 9th letter from Andrzej Bloch, Interim President of Antioch College, to the Antioch College faculty.  This combative approach to academics is anathema to all of us; shared governance and faculty tenure were two main points of our Resolution of June 2007, and we continue to champion those ideals. A letter that hides behind financial exigency to declare that most of the faculty “won’t be rehired past June 2008” is in no way collaborative, accurate, respectful of tenure, nor in any way a part of the shared vision for Antioch College.
The misstatements and miscommunications have challenged our efforts for Antioch College. Part of our agreement in principle with the Board of Trustees was that the Alumni Board will be part of the College planning process going forward. This letter from the Interim President does not convey the spirit of our agreement, and indeed, was not shared with us ahead of time.  We are calling on the University Trustees and administration to live up to the letter and spirit of our agreement.
Antioch College is a vibrant institution with a world-class faculty. The Alumni Board fully supports the gifted Antioch College faculty, and has nothing but admiration for the spirited and committed student body and the dedicated staff as well. Our plan going forward calls for recruiting transfer students now, and first-year students as soon as the Ohio Board of Regents extends the College’s authority to grant credits and degrees.

We are still ashamed to let it die!

–Nancy Crow, President, Antioch College Alumni Board

Faculty Lawsuit Dropped, Others “in our Pockets”

By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans & Alex Borowicz
Only a week after the Antioch University Board of Trustees announced the recision of the resolution suspending the operations of Antioch college, a lawsuit filed by members of the college’s faculty was dismissed without prejudice.
But the legal battle may not be over.  Dismissing the lawsuit “without prejudice” gives the faculty the option of refiling the same claim at a later date and this is but one of the legal cards that the college faculty now hold.
Professor Peter Townsend, lead plaintiff in the faculty lawsuit, stressed the need for collaboration between the university and the college faculty.  “It’s really important that the university start negotiating in a functional way with all the parties,” Townsend said.  He noted that the faculty would be willing to reinstate the lawsuit, but that the main point of the lawsuit was simply to keep the college open.
Other lawsuits may still be options for the college faculty, and these options have already been reviewed.  “We’re holding them in our pockets and we’re hoping to get some collaborative behaviour from the administration of both the university and the college,” he said.  “If we do, then we won’t need these suits, and we’ll be working together, which is what we’d like to do.”
The faculty are more than willing to begin collaborative negotiations, as they feel that the faculty contract they hold is still being violated.  A letter was sent to the legal team of the college stating that the lawsuit was to be dropped and that fair negotiations were expected by the faculty.
Townsend admitted it was unlikely that the previous lawsuit would be reinstated, but contended that “there are other lawsuits that are options with the faculty that we could file.”  But the weeks to come remain unclear, and the faculty are uncertain if further legal action will be necessary.  “The current situation changes minute to minute now,” Townsend said.  “Predicting two weeks is nearly impossible.”

Culture Shock for Polish Students in the United States

By Miyuki Sese

Antioch College has partnerships with several international universities. In this first term, not only Japanese students but also some Polish students came all the way to Antioch: Joanna Grabski, Ewa Niezgoda, Zuzia Drozdzak, Joanna Strozik, Dorotia Tombinska, Alicja Piekarska.

Joanna Grabski has visited in the United Students before, but it is for the first visit to America for most of the Polish students. Needless to say, they have been surprised by the different American styles. According to them, the biggest surprising thing was the American friendly attitude. Even though people who go through are strangers, American always greets them on the street.“ America delivered nice atmosphere,”said Zuzia.

The approach to the education seems to be different between Poland and America. In Poland, education is conducted relatively traditionally, while Americans conducts a progressive education. Now, they are learning a lot of from the liberal education at Antioch. “As for Antioch, all facilities are crowded in one place, but Polish universities usually have their facilities in various area including the town,” Joanna Strozik said. Poland also doesn’t have any colleges, only universities.

Besides these culture shocks, they have been surprised by the parties held at Antioch. Poles usually have parties in their university, but they don’t dress up for the party. When they go to the club, bar and disco, they usually dress up. So, they saw a difference when they saw the students dressing up for the party in Antioch.

Food style seems to be the most important topic in culture shock. In Poland, the potato is the staple diet and necessary, but “American formula for potato seems different from Polish.”said Dorotia. Architecture everywhere in America also seems different from Polish. Most interestingly,“American air is different from Polish.”said Joanna Grabski. They finished by saying “We like Antioch. Antioch students are so active.”

Imagine…

By Matt Baya
I’m an Antiochian and one of the side effects of this affliction is that I have a pretty big imagination. This is a blessing and a curse. The curse in this instance is I can imagine how exponentially better the current situation could be with just a few small changes. Continue reading Imagine…

Hell, High Water and Hope

By Linda Sattem
It is hard to accept that Antioch College is in bad shape when daily we work with such wonderful students. The following are comments and feelings I have had since the closing announcement this summer that I don’t often have a chance to share.

Hell
This summer was very hard with the second round of layoff of staff. Then when I offered requested programming about grief, loss, searching for jobs, etc., there were complaints that I was “giving up” on Antioch, that I was undermining the good fight.
In fact we were acknowledging what had already begun to occur. We were both mourning the loss of friends and colleagues while still trying to prepare for a difficult year with a skeleton staff.
It is difficult to work, with ever increasing workloads for Student Affairs staff, especially with the criticism that we are not working to save the college. We all care deeply about the college and we are working to support the students still here.

High Water
This term has been equally hard. We are watching students struggle with their course work and organizing. They are struggling with decisions most people never face.
Many are struggling to keep their heads above the rising tide of fatigue, anger, hopelessness and feeling powerless. How do you feel good when you have done all you can, and it still is not enough?
As we work with students we have to help them figure out what is best for them. Maybe they have to leave, so that they continue to be strong and balanced. Only then will they ever be able to come back, as alumni, as faculty, as staff, as parents sending their children to Antioch College.

Hope
The recent efforts of alumni/staff/students/faculty and the faculty lawsuit are where I receive hope. There was genuine shock over the uproar about the closing. (And I firmly believe that the end game was to never reopen.)
At a church I once saw a hand printed sign that read:
The church is what is left after the building
burns down and the minister leaves town.
They can tear down as many buildings as they want, send away as many people as they can, and Antioch will still be here. When we reopen it will be with residential students and tenured faculty.
All staff in the various student services feel privileged to work with students day in and day out, in the dorms, in the café, in the ASC, in the gym, the library, Main Building, in counseling and wellness. For our amazing students — present, past and future — who are brilliant, compassionate activists, will not let us die.