Tag: president

Letter from Carole Braun

Dear friends at the Record and in the Community,

I wanted to clarify the implication in the last Record issue that changing RAB (Record Advisory Board) to REB (Record Editorial Board) would necessitate censorship of the Record. When I taught journalism on campus between 1989 and 1991, my responsibilities included chairing what was then REB. REB, which was composed of previous Record editors and interested faculty, staff and students, created Record editorial policy. Record editors were expected to conform to this policy, but the newspaper was never censored or subjected to prior restraint. (Prior restraint refers to a newspaper being reviewed by someone before it could be published.) Momentum to change editorial policy or question the editors about their responsibilities came from the community and was changed through democratic process. REB was appointed by Comcil. As I recall it, much of REB’s strongest questioning and criticism of current editors about being responsible journalists came from the previous Record editors.

I also was present at an Antioch University Board of Trustees meeting where then-college President Al Guskin defended the Record, its student editors and freedom of speech when Board members complained that the Record needed to be censored or restrained so that its news didn’t offend anyone or spoil the public relations efforts of the College. I was surprised then at the venom of the 1990 Board toward the Record, and I wonder if the current Board is not pressuring the administration for changes.

Carole Braun

Media Arts Technician and occasional adjunct

A New Acronym: CSKC Prepares to Open its Doors

By Madeline Helser 

Coretta Scott King once said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members…â€? and it holds true today, especially when applied to our institution.

Construction is slated for completion on the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom, designed to enhance knowledge and awareness about cultural identity in our community and beyond. It aims to educate future generations about cultural struggles and focus on how, as a community, to increase the unity among the different cultural identities.

The CSK Center was the notion of Bob Devine and Team 7. Team 7 was part of the renewal plan for Antioch College given to us by the Board of Trustees. The idea for the center was motivated by an essay written by Dr. Everett Freeman on some of Dr. King’s writings on community. Dr. Freeman was then on the Board of Trustees, and is now the President of the University of Indianapolis. It was in the renewal plan that Team 7 would articulate some sort of center for cultural and intellectual freedom. Out of the plan and the mind of Team 7 and Bob Devine, The CSK Center was born.

After a few weeks on the project, Bob Devine resigned, and Beverly Rodgers became the chair of Team 7. Team 7 was one of the most diverse teams working on the renewal. The team had good community representation; students, staff, and faculty were all represented in a very diverse manner. The team created job descriptions for Diversity positions within the administration.

The positions created were Director/ Diversity Advisor to the President of the College and Administrative Assistant/Diversity Advocate. “The position of Director is loaded with responsibilities, including fundraising, which will be important to the Center’s programming and future staffing. The new director will also need to be visionary, and carry out projects and ideas to better inform and engage the community. They will also serve as a special assistant to the president on institutional diversity; this is crucial to the retention and recruitment of faculty, staff, and students of color. We are a very white campus, especially in the upper-administrative positions, and the Director will hopefully be able to assist with this problem as they sit in the President’s staff group and bring in resources to support faculty, staff, and students of color.� Says Lauren Hind, an upperclassmen working for the Center. As of now, they are in the process of interviewing and hiring an administrative assistant and are in the last steps of hiring a director, which includes visits to campus and talks given by the three candidates in the Inn during Lunch.

When Steve Lawry was hired as President, things were not flowing together very smoothly, so Beverly Rodgers was asked to step in as Interim Director for the Project. Beverly’s job is to oversee the entire renovation of the building that used to be used and known as the G-Space and Security. From overseeing the installation of the carpet to the programs hopefully being set into place, Beverly deals with it all. The main part of Beverly’s job as Interim Director is to organize. She is to get all of the little things out of the way so when the Director starts in early January, the little things will be out of the way and the director will be able to start their job right away. She also has staff meetings with the people that are going to be occupying the new offices in the CSK. Until now, the groups to occupy those offices have had no direct supervision. She is also to get a handle on the budget for the CSK Center. The CSK Center, until just recently, has had no direct monetary support.

The As far as physical changes to the building, the laundry equipment was removed, which included the floor having to be leveled, the electricity taken out, and the walls needing to be repaired and painted. The rest of the building was carpeted and painted as well. It is now being wired for Computers and Internet Access. There are new doors on the front and main entrance and the fireplace is being replaced from a wood burning type to one with gas logs. There are going to be 8 offices set up. The director, the administrative assistant will occupy two of the offices. The other offices will be for the Bonner program, the Makeit program, Vista Americorps, and the community engagement office. The office furniture has already been ordered and should be in by the week of October 16. Once the furniture is in the building, everything should be set within 2 weeks. The Lounge furniture for the common room, formerly known as the G-Space, won’t be in, however, until the middle of November.

As far as programs in the future, Beverly has positive outlooks. “Antioch has a lot to offer our community. But sometimes we get very hidden under a bushel basket. Let’s look at how privilege plays out in the outside world. We need to continue dialogue about it. It’s an important facet of education.� A goal is to be able to have a good developed program for next term. A positive step was bringing Allen Johnson to campus, as he opened up the arena for discussion on topics of cultural identity on a new level.

She has in mind a program educating about Youth Urban Violence, specifically in the Dayton area. It would be for volunteer work or for co-op. Beverly believes that it would be a wonderful way to expand students’ ability to connect with the area.

Another possible program would be focused on immigration. “ I feel like immigration is something that people just do not know much about,� said Rodgers, “we have so many opportunities to interact and focus on what we already have.� The aspects of things like availability of healthcare, work, and ESL courses are important to the immigration issue. There are so many struggles associated with it that it is very much linked to cultural and intellectual freedom. Beverly remarked, “Allen provided good grounds for discussion of that once again. To be able to express culture freely and respectfully, you have to be empowered. It doesn’t necessarily have to be regional or national, but we can look at it on a smaller level, because in some way, it all connects.�

Overall, The Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom is headed in the right direction. “I went to Atlanta to talk to Mrs. King, and I feel we have a serious responsibility that we do honor her name. She expanded on Dr. King’s ideology with the fight for the rights of women and gay’s as well as supporting HIV research. She was courageous and forceful, yet elegant. A truly amazing person,� said Beverly.

There will be an opening celebration for the center sometime in the spring of next year. The orchestra will play and alumni will flood Kelly Hall. It will be a celebration of cultural freedom and diversity. As Beverly said, “We may be small, but we’re pretty mighty!� We can accomplish anything we put our minds to, and the King Center is solid proof of that.

Letter from Elizabeth Collier

Dear President Lawry,

As a third year transfer I have not had the same experience with “old� Antioch but I know what has impressed me about this place for the last 6 years and what disturbs me about these changes. Personally I feel a sense of betrayal. Admissions compiles a group of students who are independent and looking to change the world, regardless of what political leanings they may have. The school has always been rightly advertised as a place that is different – not just academically but socially. It seems now that group is assembled and our voices are quieted in order to make the school more appealing to the general population. It seems that our talent, energy and idealism is stifled and that we are not trusted enough to guide the direction of our education. The self-designed curriculum is present, yes, but a college education is more than that. We grow and learn to “shape our surroundings,� to quote the current website.

My roommate brought to my attention that so much of this process has been marked with what is wrong with the school and how the culture is driving people away. Why isn’t the focus on what brings people to Antioch rather than reinventing a long respected process? Bastardizing the school to attract the masses is not the way to bring glory to Antioch. Great schools are not recognized because they have huge numbers attending, they are respected because of the quality of the education and the opportunities available to students.

Despite how idealistic I may sound I understand that schools are in fact businesses. I understand that to continue running and offer those opportunities that bring respect that school must be properly funded. However I believe that in the long run more value will come from being a place of continued principle. Students will be attracted to a school that recognizes their competence and alumni will be more likely to feel a connection to (and donate to) the school that continues to use the methods and values they learned from.

Finally, it seems to me that imposing your will upon a culture that is so thoroughly resistant is an unnecessary waste of energy. Perhaps you believe that future students will expect less involvement in their government so this conflict will be short lived. Why exactly are you so publicly defiant of these long held beliefs? Any business, Antioch included, must answer to those who pay the bills, or risk irrelevance.

Elizabeth Collier

President Lawry Shows His Teeth

By Wesley Dawson

At the AdCil meeting Tuesday October Tenth School President Steve Lawry began discussion with a document entitled “Principles of a Community Learning Structure.� Presumably written by Lawry himself, the page subtitled as a “Draft for Discussion� had all statements and no questions. Community members present at the meeting found the document demonstrative of the President’s desire to change to a more top down school power structure that negates decision making shared governance once had.

The bite in the document seems to be that even though Lawry has been instigating what many older students see as unprecedented change on the school, it is written as an explanation of policy rather than a proposal for change. Lawry’s point is to say that the community government never had any real power beyond advising the real decision maker, himself.

The document asserts that the purpose of shared governance is purely educational, preparing students to “be effective in public life and to represent their views and values convincingly in public affairs after leaving college.� This is not unlike Student Government models in many other colleges where students hold no power beyond fund raising and throwing parties. One purpose this parallel serves to the perspective of a newer student like myself is to say that Antioch is, and always has been, structured the same way as any other college in the country.

Many students, some of whom who have been at the college longer than the President, disagree with the statements in his document. They say that while the President of the school holds the official power, they have historically taken heed of the community’s wishes and made decisions as a representative rather than an authority. This point of view shared by many members of the community asserts that until the current president, governing power was shared under shared governance.

Teachers present at the meeting were noted as saying that the ability to utilize real power allows students a better opportunity for learning to be “effective in public life� because it allows them to do so as students instead of just “after leaving college.�

The document does not refer directly to Steve Lawry but rather to a theoretical President but also includes statements like, “Faculty have in recent years gained greater direct responsibility for curricular matters. This is a welcome and healthy trend and it should continue,� which, aside from the date, is the only part that shows that Lawry himself wrote the document, and recently. The rest could have been a policy set out years ago by the school administration were it to always have the absolute power Lawry asserts it to have.

According to the President, “AdCil’s role is advisory to the President and the administration� and ComCil is “a place of discussion and debate on community matters� not “an alternative locus of authority to the President, the administration or the faculty.� Older students say that while the President’s statements may correspond to how the school policy is written, it is a new interpretation of that policy that does not take account of how school decision-making has historically worked at Antioch.

If that is the case, the student body faces the question of whether the decree of authority is more important than the ideals of community. President Lawry has already considered this question and made up his mind.

The Following is a Work of Fiction

20061011-mcqueen.jpgDon’t come Around Here No Mo or: Steve McQueen Banished From Campus
By Christopher DeArcangelis

It is now nearly sun up as Steve Mc Queen and I pull us to the rocky summit of Mt. Crispus. Steve, clad in hemp poncho and straw hat, eyes gleaming beside a fully formed nose and cheeks for the pinching, cannot help but outshine the sun rising in the East. He pulls himself over the summit, landing on his belly.
“Wasn’t that a mother fucker?� Steve laughs. But then he turns his face to the rising sun and bites his lips, holding back the pain welling up inside his moved soul.
“If only Antioch could see me now.�
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Steve McQueen has only his pride these days as he was stripped of his Antioch citizenship two weeks ago. And why? There is no answer. Steve McQueen has maintained a non-threatening, educational presence as he traversed the many yards of our hollowed campus. Who can forget the good times? Who will forget the jolly chuckles of Mr. Steve McQueen?

In the quest to find answers, you must untangle the great gobs and wads of bureaucratic tape that can block even the healthiest arteries of understanding.
I figured I’d work my way to the heart of the matter and attempted a meeting with “Straw boss� Steve Lawry, El Presidente Guapo de Antioch College.
I approached his door with an air of caution. I was surprised to see his door partially opened, as if he were expecting someone. I raised my hand to knock when Steve’s voice wafted into my ears: “Come In�
I opened the door and greeted “The Man� with a hearty shake and a wink. He told me a few jokes, some a little racy I felt later, but none-the-less the sign of a whip smart welfare capitalist.
After the initial meet and greet, we cut to the shit. I mentioned Steve McQueen and Mr.Lowery’s face turned glum as a plum.
“I do not know of this person you speak of,� he responded.
“What do you mean, Steve? How can you forget? The face? The laugh? Remember when he single-handedly inspired a joyous celebration among those lost in the quagmire of living?� I protested.
I saw the red overtake Steve Lowery’s normally dour face, the beads of sweat swelling. He tilted his head to face his desk, his hands clenching the edge of his black leather throne.
“Get…Out….� he muttered, trembling
“Steve, tell me about Steve McQueen! You know who I’m talking about!� I threw all the papers off of his desk, a justice filled rage of yellow journalist. He shot up to full stature, his towering figure taking up all my space.
“There is no Steve McQueen! Not on this campus! Now, take your fowl and breadcrumbs and stuff it!� His pointer finger twitched as he held it pointed towards the exit.
************************************
I am eating the freshly picked figs and grapes left over from the summer crop at Steve’s ranch as we observe a falcon gliding on steel winds o’er head. As I watch the falcon I think of Steve’s rise from naïve spring to chicken to a big game hen at Antioch College.

“Yes,� Steve laments, “Antioch really brought out the best in what I had given to me at the hour of conception.�
Reflecting on his commentary, I notice his eyes begin to water. Still shaken as his banishment, I feel this must be hard for Steve. Goading him on, I prod:
“ Do you feel like you are the reflection of an ideology?�
His face turns to me swiftly. Throwing himself upon his feet he shouts,
“NO! I am no more important than you, or this mountain, or the sun!� His face turns majestically skyward as he basks in the beams of the life giving sun.
“We are all representative of something, and no idea or person is more important or any better than another!� Steve pulls a rock from the ground, overcome with energy, and throws it over the rocky precipice of the mountain’s apex.
“If we are to understand each other, we must laugh! We must forgive! We must hold hands as we stand on the picket lines to protest the dues paid to intolerance and hate!�
***********************************
So why did Steve McQueen get kicked out?
“Steve had this sort of natural…panache. He was a gunslinger at heart, but his heart was connected to his mouth. He sort of said what people all knew was true but afraid to hear.� first year Buster Gently relates. “His voice had the eerie quality. Sometimes it took on the shape of a sultry siren, you know, those maidens on the island that sang so mournfully, yet sexily, but sometimes, man, it was a steel nail chiseling a slab of bedrock.� “…I think, the administration feared his very presence. This guy just left blood wherever he went, really.�

“…He was a [charming] fuck. Sometimes I thought he knew about god or some higher shit, But really he was just a hack, I mean, when was the last time you bathed, Steve?� Kolin Pope, past savior of the world says.

“…He told me about this crazy idea he had involving regular foodstuffs. I think the administration got hip to his plans and cut the cowboy off at the pass, if you know what I mean,� Ernie, a first year says.

“I heard when I applied to Antioch that plainspoken folk with a natural flair were on the way out. That’s why I decided to go here,� says Neptune, a First year.
*****************************************
The more people I talk to, the more it seems the nature of Steve Mc Queens unfortunate removal from Antioch takes on that of an oral tradition. While no one can quite put there finger on what happened, including Steve McQueen, we could all construct our own narratives that hold a deeper meaning than any authoritative folklore can provide. This must be the new face of Antioch. We are reverting to folklore and oral tradition in terms of communication between the administration and its students. Instead of concrete reasoning and iron-fisted bureaucracy, we are treated to an informal but classical rendering of the way societies communicated before the advent of the written language. This neo-classical approach will surely help redefine the face of Antioch.

In the meantime, we are faced with a strange void, the void that was once filled by our true love: Steve McQueen.