See you in Exile

On a night in January, I was looking at myself in the mirror of my bathroom at 4 a.m. I couldn’t sleep. Everything was theoretically okay though: I was safely escaping the winding down of Antioch, I was being reasonable and attentive to my feelings and health. I had taken a sound decision considering the circumstances, the little hope, the dimming down, the bruises, and I was supported in it by virtually everyone I knew. Until then, this rational discourse had satisfied and comforted me.

But at 4 a.m. in that cold empty bathroom, it was suddenly different. Maybe because of the insomnia that had turned my nights into atrociously agitated marathons for the past three weeks. Or maybe it came from the thought that classes would be starting soon at Antioch, and that I wouldn’t be there. Continue reading See you in Exile

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

Antioch College Racial Discrimination Prevention Policy

I. Preface
History of the RDPP
Since its student-initiated inception in 1997, the Racial Discrimination Prevention Policy (RDPP) has been the work of students, staff, faculty and administrators at Antioch College.  The College’s Sexual Offense Prevention Policy inspired the idea for a policy designed to support an anti-racist College environment.  There have been incidents on the Antioch College campus that demonstrated the need for this type of policy.  Procedural components to address prevention are also included in the policy as part of the mediation and resolution process.  The College’s Administrative Council approved this policy on April 25, 2006.
Continue reading Antioch College Racial Discrimination Prevention Policy

Letter from ‘The FAB Four’

Dear Community,
As we approach the CG elections in just one week, we are anxious, excited, and motivated to move forward. As we have said before, we are a collective team of passionate and devoted community members and we intend to provide the Antioch College Community with leadership that will encourage sustainable education and progressive activism.
We realize that the CG elections have been stressful for all of us but we hope that you are still excited about legitimizing community governance through your participation in the upcoming election. While acknowledging that the options are limited, we hope our work and energy spent over these past several weeks convey that we are committed to reflecting all of the community’s voices.
Our next collective step is to support the community in the development and finalization of the 4th position job description. This process is incredibly important and we are committed to doing this work regardless of the outcome of the election. We recognize that the sustainability of Community Government is more important than who is in CG next year and will do what it takes to secure a strong 4 person CG for the year ’08 to ’09.
We believe in the words of Algo Henderson, “Freedom must be matched with responsibility”. It is imperative that we as a community make the necessary efforts to preserve shared governance and our Antioch community. We look forward to working with you in the coming months and to continue honoring the process of shared governance at Antioch. Thank you.

The FAB Four

Jamila Hunter
Niko Kowell
Meghan Pergrem
Fela PierreLouis

Against the Odds

By Erin-Aja Grant

This past weekend Antioch was alive with visitors. They were alums, town members, and the Antioch community’s first glance at the newest abbreviated in-group. The AC3, or ACCC, or Atrip, is officially named the Antioch College Continuation Corporation. This all-star alum group came to Antioch hoping to gain a community perspective on the College’s current situation. Students, faculty, and staff were provided the opportunity to interact with the ACCC Saturday in smaller groups. The AC3 members are: Frances Horowitz ‘54 (co-chair), Eric Bates ‘83 (co-chair), Laura Markham ‘80 (secretary), David Goodman ‘72 (treasurer), Steve Schwerner ’60, Catherine Jordan ’69, Lee Morgan ’69, Barbara Winslow ’68, and Terry Herndon ’57. Some of these people are familiar faces from the Alumni Board and some of them are just outright familiar names. There was no doubt that as Antioch Alums each member feels a responsibility and nostalgic love for the school, but the community still had its questions.

After breakfast planning, the day kicked off at 10am with a community meeting. It started with Andrzej Bloch, who made a few brief remarks concerning the recient power outage on campus. The meeting proceeded with an introduction by the ACCC members, and a brief presentation on the new corporation. McGregor 113 was packed with Yellow Springs residents, faculty, staff, and students. Many people said during the meeting, and after, that they were confused by the presence of Glenn Watts. Watts, the former CFO of the college, stated that he was only there to record the events happening and is no longer affliated with the University or its board. Continue reading Against the Odds