Sink the Captain Save the Ship

“I did not get this college into this mess, it’s been going on for 30 years, I’m here to get it out of the mess.” –Toni Murdock

If one thing has become evident this week, then it is that Toni Murdock is not the person to get Antioch out of this mess. While holding on to the claim that she did not build the sinking ship, she is not using the wisdom of the crew that sailed it for years. Meanwhile, she does not have the expertise to address the needs of the college, nor the willingness to learn about its history in order to tackle the systemic problems that prevent it from flourishing.
Her appearance in AdCil on Tuesday has once again made that clear.
Murdock’s interpretation of the joined resolution, two weeks ago, goes straight against that of the Alumni Board. Good faith indeed seems to be lost when seeing members of the AB shake their head in disbelief this week when hearing the chancellor convey her outline for the road ahead.
Following Toni’s vision, we cannot recruit students until “financially stable” another two years from now. Financial exigency, meanwhile, continues to be used as a means to terminate faculty and staff contracts, setting off an avalanche of insecurity across campus.
Current students fear their departments and community disappearing, and accepting new students in the near future does not seem to be part of the Murdock strategy for success. Continue reading Sink the Captain Save the Ship

Chancellor Murdock Visits AdCil Again

By Jeanne Kay
Andrzej Bloch opened AdCil on Tuesday morning by apologizing for the tone of the letter that was sent to the faculty on November 9th, confirming the fact that they would all be fired on June 30th, 2008. “It may have come through in a very harsh manner,” he said, “But the reality is quite harsh and the letter reflects this reality.” The letter would he retracted and redrafted, but, he specified, the content would remain the same. Continue reading Chancellor Murdock Visits AdCil Again

Resolution of DC Antioch Alumni Group Meeting on November 11

   Over 30 Washington area Antioch College alums met yesterday, November 11 to discuss recent events and plan future activities that can help Antioch College in this transitional period.  An almost unanimous vote of the 33 people in attendance agreed with the list below of concerns resulting from the recent Agreement in Principle between the Antioch University Board of Trustees and the Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors and the 11.2.07:2 Resolution of the University Board of Trustees.
As individuals, we will not give money to the College Revival Fund, Antioch College, or Antioch University, nor do we believe other large donors will fulfill their pledges, without the following conditions being created. Continue reading Resolution of DC Antioch Alumni Group Meeting on November 11

Breaking Point

By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans

Antioch shakes you to your core; it breaks you and puts you back together with pieces of the people around you becoming part of you. That is what the past four months have felt like for me. If anything diverts me from the disappointment over the resolution that was meant to be the moment of relief and reward, then it is holding on to the unexpected bonds I made since this summer. I do not feel relieved, I do feel rewarded.

Continue reading Breaking Point

Dispatches from Community Meeting

Antioch College, Celebrating 155 Years of Market Tested Toughness
By Billy Joyce

It’s only just begun. Community Meeting was charged with anger and uncertainty this week. With the decision to lift the suspension of operations obliterating the past and only halfway tracing the future, distrust of the university’s minions and its board of trustees runs high.
University Vice Chancellor and Spokesperson Mary Lou LaPierre jockeyed for Community Member of the Week honors this week by putting a heroic spin on this past weekend’s Board of Trustees decision to lift the suspension of operations. Continue reading Dispatches from Community Meeting