We met on our first official day as Antiochians in September 1984. Jeff was sitting on the upper level walkway between the kitchens of Mills when Lynda pulled up behind the dorm. A warm hello and some help carrying Lynda’s belongings to her room was the first of many moments we would spend together that Fall. Our attraction to one another was immediate, spending the day together talking and laughing into the evening and on into sunrise. We discovered and cemented a deep friendship during that quarter, all while miraculously managing to keep our young hormones (mostly) at bay. There were obviously enough tell-tale interactions and lengthy massages exchanged in the human habitrails of the Mills TV room to get rumors flying; we were immortalized in a multi-panel cartoon called “Mills Street Blues†which showed up in a few places around campus. According to a few sources, our unrequited lust was considered legendary at the time, but we kept it platonic and said goodbye that December as our Antioch schedules sent us our separate ways until the following Fall quarter of 1985.
Tag: alumni
Lynda Sirk new head of Development and Alumni Relations
Lynda Sirk, former head of communications and Public relations for Antioch College was appointed the new head of Development and Alumni affairs, according to a press statement released by the University yesterday.
Sirk’s appointment was announced after much commotion on campus on Friday when the staff of both the Development Office and Alumni Relations office, including then head of Development Risa Grimes, were locked out of their office on Friday afternoon. “We were told to leave and we don’t have access to our first class accounts anymore, that’s all I can tell right now,†said Aimee Maruyama, head of Alumni Relations for the college in a phone interview Yesterday. Several officers had an automated out of office reply on their email boxes saying their office was closed for a long weekend and they would not be responding to their email until Tuesday. Continue reading Lynda Sirk new head of Development and Alumni Relations
Open Letter to Antioch students
Open Letter to Antioch students
I just returned from a weekend in YSO and attended the open forum session with the Board of Trustees. As an alum (class of ’77), I had not been on campus since the late 1990s when I tried to interest my daughter in attending. My experience this weekend reminded me of why I have always loved Antioch and why I stayed after the 1973 strike.
Everything I have ever accomplished of any significance is due to my years at Antioch College (parenting included). I’m often asked how I learned the skills of my profession and I always credit my years at Antioch College. (I own a healthcare consulting firm.) I explain that I learned active listening through participation in AdCil and long meetings held to debate whatever issue was the hot topic on campus (including the ’73 strike). My classes emphasized critical thinking and the synthesis of multiple theories and ideas. During my work study job in the WYSO newsroom, under the careful mentoring of Mark Mericle, I tested my communication and analytic skills. Finally, I gained confidence and independence through the coop program/AEA experiences in Mississippi, New Orleans, Washington DC, and Mexico.
So why did I become alienated from the College from which I loved and took so much?
In part, the complexities of life just took over. Fundamentally, however, my generation received unfair blame for the enrollment decline and financial chaos after the ’73 strike. Perhaps we were the first toxic generation. Many seemed to forget that the strikers, whether we agreed with their tactics or not, actually challenged Dixon’s funding priorities (expansion to over 20 campus locations) and predicted the College would eventually ultimately suffer (for which they were labeled as marginal and fatalistic thinkers). So, as a 1st year student who survived the strike, I distrusted the expansion and move towards a University system from the beginning. I endured the strike – thousands of pounds of garbage piled on the horseshoe in front of Antioch Hall (strikers picketed to prevent garbage pickup), the suspension of classes and meal service, and a deeply divided campus. Yet I stayed.
The first year students I drove to the Cincinnati Board meeting reminded me of myself and other entering students of 1972; excited, curious, inquisitive, polite, and eager to start their Antioch adventure. They sensed this year would provide a very special opportunity to participate in a collective effort to save Antioch College and to understand the dynamics that led us to where we are today.
I admire all of you, both entering and returning students, for making a decision to go down this unpredictable path. Please remember you have the support of staff, faculty, the village, and thousands of alumni who are working towards a common goal. We will not forget you are actually living through this uncertainty and intensity day after day. Believe me, you will not regret it!
In solidarity,
Susan Greene 1977
Open Letter to Antioch students by College Alumna
I just returned from a weekend in YSO and attended the open forum session with the Board of Trustees. As an alum (class of ’77), I had not been on campus since the late 1990s when I tried to interest my daughter in attending. My experience this weekend reminded me of why I have always loved Antioch and why I stayed after the 1973 strike.
Everything I have ever accomplished of any significance is due to my years at Antioch College (parenting included). I’m often asked how I learned the skills of my profession and I always credit my years at Antioch College. (I own a healthcare consulting firm.) I explain that I learned active listening through participation in AdCil and long meetings held to debate whatever issue was the hot topic on campus (including the ’73 strike). My classes emphasized critical thinking and the synthesis of multiple theories and ideas. During my work study job in the WYSO newsroom, under the careful mentoring of Mark Mericle, I tested my communication and analytic skills. Finally, I gained confidence and independence through the coop program/AEA experiences in Mississippi, New Orleans, Washington DC, and Mexico.
Continue reading Open Letter to Antioch students by College Alumna
Alma Matters
By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans
For Joan Meadows, former library assistant, the last five months have been turbulent. In February she was one of four library workers burdened with the task of keeping a highly understaffed Olive Kettering Library running after the unexpected death of Joe Cali. Now she is filing for unemployment as one of 20 staff members who were the first to lose their jobs after the announced closing of Antioch College by its Board of Trustees in June. The board claims continuing financial deficit on the part of the College as reason for its decision.