By Jeanne Kay
On Friday, February 22nd, Interim President Andrzej Bloch announced to the Antioch Community “the reconfirmation of the decision to suspend operations of the college on June 30th for at least one academic year.†Students, faculty, staff, alumni and Yellow Springs residents gathered, like they had many times since last June, for an emergency community meeting in McGregor 113. The Interim President had just flown back from Los Angeles, where the Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting was still being held, to present the college community with the resolution of the trustees’ discussions concerning the immediate future of Antioch College.
The discussions took place on Thursday the 21st, Bloch specified in a later interview; they started early in the morning and lasted until the mid-afternoon. The negotiating team, composed of Chancellor Toni Murdock, Chair Art Zucker, Chief Financial Officer Tom Faecke, and two attorneys, presented the trustees with a report based on their negotiations with the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC.) The trustees, Bloch said, “concluded that there weren’t sufficient material, sufficient grounds, to take action.†Therefore he decided, with the approval of the board, to come back to campus to inform the community. Continue reading Community Confused by Announcement
Tag: community
Report from AdCil
By Jeanne Kay
It was not easy, on Tuesday morning, for AdCil members to discuss the first items on the agenda as if Friday’s announcement had not happened. The state of aggravated uncertainty brought to the community by the reaffirmation by Antioch University that operations at Antioch College would take an end under the University watch on June 30th made order of the day topics subordinate to dealing with the consequences of the new situation.
The Subcommittee for Campus Services submitted their report about the short-term needs of different campus services (including IT, Counseling and Wellness, Financial Aid, the Gym, the Theatre…) yet several AdCil members felt unable to take action to meet these needs given the level of uncertainty about the future of the college: “In order to meaningfully evaluate these issues we need to have a timeframe in our minds and we don’t have it†declared faculty member Hassan Rahmanian. Interim President Andrzej Bloch replied that although there was no clear picture of the future of the institution, the report pointed out “small things that could be fixed right away.†Union member Carol Braun, however, ventured that “The University is covering itself from a lawsuit by students… By going through a community institution like AdCil, so they can prove they’ve asked the community…and show that that they’ve tried to support students throughout the term.†Continue reading Report from AdCil
SENIOR PROFILE: TOM SAIN
So what year and major are you?
I’m a fourth year and I’m going to get my BS in physics.
What are you doing for your senior project?
I’m designing a circuit that relates to resistance to temperature. It’s kind of abstract right now because I haven’t really done anything on it. So I guess when that day comes that I have to present it is when I will know what my senior project is. Until then there’s not much I can say on it.
Yea there’s a lot of people who are stressed out about their SP. People don’t seem to know what they’re doing.
I mean the school is closing and that puts such a burden on all of my academics. It just freaks me out. Continue reading SENIOR PROFILE: TOM SAIN
Letter from Chelsea
Dearest Community,
I wanted to share with you my response regarding the events that took place this last weekend and on the future of Antioch College. It is true that the university will cease its’ operations of Antioch College effective June 30tth, 2008. This is not new news. In fact, its not necessarily negative news.  This past weekend the university continued with their position on the future of Antioch College, but has not concluded their negotiations with the ACCC.
We in CG were deeply troubled by the way their announcement was delivered to the community and are attempting to help paint a clearer picture of our current situation and our possible future. In no way are we trying to instill a false sense of hope, but the reality is that what was stated on Friday was presented with far more certainty than the situation warrants. We believe that the university administration and BOT are justifiably concerned about their legal position in regards to the college, but they can not speak for the ACCC, especially when those negotiations are continuing, which we understand that they are. Although the university administration and BOT can say that they are no longer operating Antioch College after the 30th of June, they cannot say that it will for certain be closed. The type of self-fulfilling prophecy that was exhibited this past weekend is dangerous and damaging to all of us, and the future of this amazing institution.
Continue reading Letter from Chelsea
Letter from Jude Logan Demers ’97
My People,
As an Antioch College Alumni ‘97, I am proud to share that I stood front row at Sen. Barak Obama’s presentation yesterday with my fiancé and 12,000 people. I am also happy to share that I “taped†it and have uploaded it to our web site www.youtube.com/judemers . I invite you to watch this motivational and inspirational speech in five parts.
The reason that I write this in my opening paragraph info is that us Antiochians are humanitarians. It is time to appeal to Sen. Obama in seeking help and assistance for Antioch College. I am offended and insulted by Antioch University’s Board of Trustees treatment of Antioch College’s Staff, Faculty, Administration, and Students.
We Antiochians of Antioch College fame have been the source of the philosophies, missions, moneys, knowledge, and wisdom that created Antioch University and it’s many Universities. Continue reading Letter from Jude Logan Demers ’97