Antioch College Action Network

Supporters of Antioch College call on Antioch University to negotiate in good faith over the future of the college. The university issued conflicting statements Friday about the state of talks that could keep the historic college open.

Andrzej Bloch, Antioch College Interim President, stated Friday in an open meeting at the college that Antioch University trustees did not hold a vote on the future of Antioch College. However, a university press release the same day stated that Antioch College would not be open at the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.

Initial reports in the media stated negotiations to transfer authority of Antioch College to the recently established Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC) failed. Sources close to the talks indicate that negotiations continue, and the Board of Trustees have expressed a willingness to continue discussions with the ACCC.

Meeting Sunday, members of the coalition of college supporters known as the Antioch College Action Network (ACAN) rejected the University’s statement that the College would suspend operations June 30. ACAN understands that Antioch College will not operate under Antioch University beyond June 30th, but that does not preclude operations under the new corporation ACCC. While hopeful of a positive outcome to the negotiations, ACAN is committed to developing bold, creative initiatives and actions to support continuous operations of the college.

Alumni raised $18 million in cash and pledges to keep the college open, and the nine members of the ACCC have personally pledged $8.5 million. The trustees have thus far balked at the ACCC’s offer to acquire the college.

According to Antioch University’s own press release, the Board of Trustees continues to negotiate a possible transfer of Antioch College to the ACCC. If this transfer is successful, it is possible that Antioch College will begin operations under the new corporation for the 2008-2009 academic year.

If Antioch College is transferred to a new corporation, Antioch University would not be responsible for the decision to resume operations under a new corporation for the 2008-2009 academic year.

ACAN members believe that by publicizing the apparent closure of Antioch College on Friday, February 22nd, Antioch University administrators may not have acted in the previously agreed upon mutual good faith and may have damaged delicate negotiations, demoralizing the college community.

ACAN members are asking the Antioch University administration to publicly address these issues: 1) the inconsistencies between Bloch’s statement and the university’s press release; 2) the source of the statement that Antioch College will not operate in 2008-2009; and 3) the Trustees’ plan for the continuation of the negotiations with the ACCC.

ACAN members also call into question the experience, competence and objectivity of the Feasibility Work Group charged by the trustees with evaluating the ACCC proposal. The Work Group includes members who have demonstrated public hostility to the college, none of whom attended the college, and none of whom has expertise in private residential liberal arts education.

University chancellor Toni Murdock, who serves on the Work Group, was the subject of no confidence votes by the faculty, staff and students of the college, as well as by the faculty of Antioch Seattle, where she previously served as president.

ACAN is an independent collective of autonomous alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of Antioch College and villagers of Yellow Springs. ACAN is a grassroots movement working collaboratively for a continuous and sustainable future for Antioch College. ACAN has no affiliation with Antioch University, the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, the Antioch University Board of Trustees, or the Antioch College Alumni Association. ACAN is responsible for the content of this statement. For more information about ACAN visit http://saveantioch.org/

The following people signed on to this statement between 02/25/08 - 04/15/08.

Matt Ornstein (Maples 94-96)
M. Vetter ‘74
Drew Cobucci
Vanessa McDonnell ‘02
Callie Cary ‘84
Lesley A Pownall Bahr “83
Eric Gottlieb
Wendy Lanner Rossen ‘68
Mark Heise ‘07 McGregor Grad
Pat Edwards ‘70
Maya Daurio
Richard Campbell
James Russell
Ralph Wells
Shadrach A. Stanleigh ‘87
Christine wands
Kate Sterling
Harold L. Yarger ‘62
J. Greg Williams ‘95
Marianne Connolly ‘80
Jaimie Weihrich ‘81
Robert Kolodny ‘62
Beth Moloney ‘95
Sara D. Brown
Peter McGraw ‘65
Rosemary Linares
Raina Daniels
George Bohichik
David Raphael
Joan Kleban ‘73
Katherine Anne Stansbury 73-77, ‘87
Allan L. Jones
Jane Rago
Suzanne (Zann) Avery ‘92
Deborah Schuessler (Horowitz) ‘75
Megan Reynolds ‘95
Flan Fry ‘58
Jan BenDor, ‘67
Rosann Rayome Goldblatt ‘81
Mandy Stone
Randy Reiss 94′
Kim Corfman
Tom Bingenheimer ‘70
Joseph Smith
Evan Keraminas
Shannon McKeehen
Lillian Duran
patrick kelly
payrick kelly
Joanna Vaughn
Michael E. Gage ‘71
Ellen Samson LaBarbera ‘71
Daniel Solis y Martinez ‘06, CG ‘05- ‘06
William Parke-Sutherland ‘06
Maribeth Joy McManus
Janis Crystal Lipzin
Bernard Kaplan
Emily Sepik
Mitch Kaplan ‘71
Bert Ellentuck
Alexa Hardy ‘08
Joel Ellinwood
Roman Rossell
Phillip Hough
Amy Monaco
Carl H. Haag
Kenneth Frederick
Sylvia Stanat
Joseph G. Zinman
mark t watchman
Jennifer Vorih, ‘86
Marc J. Masurovsky, ‘77
Elizabeth Richards ‘06
Stephanie Knol ‘01
Stacy Gochnour ‘92
Patricia Dair ‘74
Kyle Bennett ‘95
Susi Gregg Fowler
Basia Miller, ‘59
Miriam Sagan
Jude Filler
Sharon Levine
Lucy Carol Davis
Nina Bennett
Barbara Solow
Lydia Gibson ‘97
Shelley Powsner
Richard Maizell, Psy.D. ‘74
Laurie Powsner
Andrew Barnes
Kelly Connolly ‘03
Janice Brown Meltzer ‘69
Donna June Katz
Elizabeth Foster Oktay ‘59
carol milliman
Hope Anne Nathan
Tom Boothe ‘91
Kenn Chandler
Mark Sheppard
Carl Hyde
Cynthia Chernoff
Lisa Deiches
Britney Myer
Yubecca Bragg ‘97
Ilse Moon ‘53
Alexander Borowicz ‘11
Michael-David (Rogers) BenDor, ‘67
Marj Dole ‘46
Ruth Moore Halcomb
Mary Bennett
Tom Ayrsman ‘79
Maurya Orr ‘04, CG ‘04
Shelley Sperling
Don Wallace ‘60
Leisa Schaim ‘01
Nathaniel Clark
Tim Eubanks
Chad Johnston
Barbara Naidoff Lewis ‘71
Barbara Esbin
Art Dole
Kim McQuaid
Valeda Stull, 2002
Robin Heise-Director of Financial Aid
Calista Tompkins Hendrickson ‘63
Marjorie Jensen ‘07
Amy Campbell ‘07
Jeff Wood ‘88
Stephen L. Wasby
Charlie Doering ‘77
Anne Marie Garti
Priscilla Zink
Judith Church
Donald Stanat
abby pike
Peter Townsend
David Hodges ‘71
Richard Noble ‘68
Robert Abrams
Caeli Good
Kristen Swanbeck
Sara Eklund Payne
Miriam Rushfinn
Ann Frye
Michael Casselli
Johnny Wilson
Otha Davenport
Lucy A. Wollin
Alexandra Kesman ‘08
Michelle Hansen
Barry Rogers ‘78
Kim-Jenna Jurriaans ‘08
Monica Friedman ‘96
Dave Ream
Stephanie Scott ‘89
Tim Noble ‘02
Mark Weiss
Dorothy McCurdy Keeler
Michael I. Vickers, ‘69
Ed M. Koziarski ‘97
Reva Borenstein Metzger
Paula Kreisberg Ulrich ‘59
Margaret R. Lynd ‘70
Jessamay Kroth ‘97
Robin Simons ‘92
Steve Andrews, ‘63
Jennifer S. Peters
Cynthia Beth Rubin ‘72
Barbara Kasper
Tekla Taylor Lagway
Alan Siege
Ian McPhaden
Dan C. Shoemaker, ‘92
Anne Turyn
Brian Springer
Rowan Kaiser ‘05
beth gutelius ‘00
Amy Shaw ‘97
Jane Slater, Class of ‘80
susan greene ‘77
Carl E Ulrich ‘59
Laura Fathauer ‘95
megan rosado ‘97
Ed Trippel ‘92, CG ‘93
Matthew Baya ‘92