Full Meeting Schedule is posted here

Full Meeting Schedule is posted here

Full Meeting Schedule is posted here

Full Meeting Schedule is posted here

By Mark Reynolds ‘80

Lee Morgan ’66, chair of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation Board Pro Tem, and Risa Grimes, executive director of the College Revival Fund, provided an update on the state of the College at the Chicago Chapter’s meeting February 15 at the Oak Park Public Library.

Morgan began the presentation with an overview of the events and negotiations that led to the signing of the Letter of Intent (LOI) in January. He went on to discuss the Board Pro Tem’s proposal for a 40-month academic program that would include six trimesters of study and three trimesters of co-op and allow students to graduate while paying only three years’ tuition. Morgan also explained the Board’s innovative financial strategy for a

Credit holder program at Pacific Continental Bank, where alumni and other supporters can open interest-bearing accounts that Antioch College can borrow against to cover operational expenses and student financial aid.  He said the Board is aiming for an entering class of 200 students in 2010 or 2011, and to continue entering classes of 200 students thereafter.

Grimes reported that $7.8 million had been raised to date, and praised her team’s dedication and commitment to raising the $10 million needed by late April under the terms of the LOI. She expressed her confidence that the goal can be met, even during the ongoing economic recession.

Chapter members, Morgan and Grimes took up a spirited q-and-a discussion. Topics covered included short- and long-term fundraising tactics (from individual investments to increased emphasis on planned giving), the direction and structure of academics once the College is reopened, and the state of the physical campus (water damage had been discovered in Main Building the weekend before the Chicago meeting). Morgan did not offer specifics about Antioch’s future educational offerings, preferring to leave those decisions to College administrators and faculty once those persons are in place. He also shared his concern about the condition of the physical campus, noting that it presently costs about $800,000 a year to maintain the buildings.

Alumni representing class years from the ‘50s to the ‘00s attended the meeting. They were joined by current Nonstop student Katie Connelly, who talked about her experiences there.

NOTE NEW LOCATION: The Antioch College Chicago Alumni meeting with Lee Morgan, chair of the Antioch College Pro Tem Board, has been moved to the Oak Park Library to accommodate concerns about accessibility.

Sunday, February 15, 3-5 p.m.

at the Oak Park Public Library, 834 N. Lake St., Oak Park

Antioch College is closer than ever to reopening independent of Antioch University, thanks to a Letter of Intent signed January 9. Join Lee Morgan ’66, chair of the group that is poised to take the reins of the newly independent college, to discuss ongoing negotiations for independence, plans to rebuild, reopen and revitalize Antioch College, and how we can help.

Lee is chair of the Board Pro Tempore that is poised to become the Board of Trustees of the newly independent Antioch College upon successful completion of ongoing negotiations with Antioch University.

On January 9, the Board Pro Tempore and the Antioch University Board of Trustees signed a Letter of Intent that initiated a 90-day process to finalize an agreement for the college’s independence. Once final agreement is reached, the new Antioch College Board of Trustees will work to rebuild the college, to be reopened at a date to be determined.

Under the terms of the Letter of Intent, Antioch College regains the right to its name, campus, and endowment, as well as the Glen Helen, the Antioch Review, and the Coretta Scott King Center, while the university retains ownership of WYSO and Antioch Education Abroad. The Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC) has agreed to pay $6.5 million to the university to retrieve the college’s assets. The Board Pro Tempore has set a fundraising goal of $15 million for the 90 days ending April 9, and “tens of millions” going forward to secure the college’s future.

Grandson of former Antioch College president and co-op program founder Arthur Morgan, Lee Morgan ’66 is recently retired as president and CEO of the Antioch Company headquartered in Yellow Springs, an international company founded by his father in 1926. Lee served on the Antioch University Board of Trustees for 13 years, and has campaigned for the college’s independence from the university since 2007 as a member of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation.

The Oak Park library is two blocks from the Oak Park stop on the Green Line, three blocks from the Oak Park Station on the Metra Union Pacific West line,1.5 miles from the Harlem exit on I-290.

There is a $5 requested donation to cover the cost of refreshments. Larger donations are welcome.

Please RSVP to the Facebook event page at  or email antiochrsvp@gmail.com.

Related Links:

Antioch College Alumni Association

Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute

Antioch College Chicago Facebook Group

In what appears to be the final act of the long, complex and heartwrenching saga around efforts to save Antioch College, the Antioch University Board of Trustees on Thursday, May 8, rejected the offer of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, or AC3, of almost $16 million to keep the college open. In a press statement the board reaffirmed its decision to suspend operations at the college. Jump to the article.

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Lyn Chamberlin

Yellow Springs, Ohio—May 9, 2008  –  The Antioch University Board of Trustees today rejected an offer by a group of major donors and educational leaders to contribute nearly $16 million to keep the doors of Antioch College open.

The Antioch College Continuation Corporation, which was formed by prominent alumni to save the 150-year-old campus, had offered the contributions in return for ten seats on the University board. The current trustees have collectively given less than $25,000 in the current fiscal year.

The ACCC has been engaged in talks with Antioch University over the past five months to reach an agreement over the fate of the college, which is scheduled to close on June 30. The offer by the group would have enabled the College to continue operating until the details of a separation from the University could be finalized.

“It almost defies belief that the trustees could reject this extraordinarily generous offer by a group of major donors,” said Eric Bates, co-chair of the ACCC. “We were not only prepared to make an immediate contribution of $9.5 million for Antioch College, we offered to make an additional contribution of $6 million for the direct benefit of the University’s five other campuses. This was a win-win opportunity for the entire University, and the trustees squandered it.”

In addition to its $6 million contribution to the University, the ACCC offered a host of guarantees to protect the other campuses. The key commitments of the proposal included:

* Ensuring that the eventual separation of Antioch College would be done in a manner that protects the University’s accreditation and    financial security;
* Ending the annual subsidies each campus currently pays to the College;
* Guaranteeing that funds from other campuses would not be used to offset any operating expense or deficits incurred by the College;
* Implementing an existing plan to create separate governing boards for each of the campuses;
* Creating a new board committee to directly address the needs of each campus;
* Initiating an ambitious fundraising campaign to raise an additional $100 million for the College and assist the other Antioch campuses in their fundraising efforts.

“We are deeply disappointed that the trustees did not take advantage of this historic opportunity,” said Lee Morgan, a director of the ACCC whose grandfather, Arthur Morgan, presided over Antioch’s acclaimed rebirth in the 1920s. “Under this agreement, the University would have gained a number of experienced trustees who bring tremendous resources – not just finances, but expertise and energy – on behalf of the entire University.”

To encourage the trustees to accept the ACCC’s offer, Morgan had volunteered to work half-time – for no charge – to raise money for the College beginning in June. In addition, Frances Degen Horowitz, co-chair of the ACCC and president emerita of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, had offered to volunteer full-time during the summer to serve as chief transition officer while the College got back on its feet.

“This is a sad day not only for Antioch, but for everyone who cares about progressive education in this country,” said Horowitz. “This was a remarkably generous and well-intentioned offer by an experienced and supportive group of alumni, seven of whom are former University trustees. Our proposal was not only a brilliant solution to save Antioch College – it would also have provided Antioch University with critical resources and expertise. We are all at a loss to understand why the University board rejected a plan that would have served both the College and the University so well.”

At one point toward the end of negotiations, the University suddenly offered to accept the ACCC’s earlier offer to pay $12.2 million to immediately separate the College from the University. “This was virtually the same plan the University had rejected only a month earlier, and almost identical to the offer they refused to even consider back in February,” Bates noted. “Now, all of their earlier objections had magically vanished. Out of the blue, they were prepared to accept all of our terms, without any of the conditions on securing payments or retaining ownership of WYSO that they had previously insisted were deal breakers. They were also willing to delegate full authority to a completely autonomous College board of trustees that would operate under the University’s accreditation – a position that they themselves had previously said flat-out was legally impossible when we first sat down with them back in November.”

Bates said the sudden reversal revealed that the University had not been negotiating in good faith. “It is telling that they offered to accept this plan only after it was clear to everyone that it was too late for such an arrangement to succeed,” he said. “And it would still have required us to negotiate the myriad details of final separation with no guarantee that we would reach an agreement.”

“It was truly shocking and sad to realize that our earlier offer, which could have saved the College months ago, was rejected because of the University lacked the leadership it needed to see it through this crisis,” said Horowitz, who has more than four decades of successful experience as an administrator in higher education. “Throughout months of negotiations, the leaders of the University and the Board to Trustees repeatedly stood in the way of opportunities that would have prevented the demise of the College while also safeguarding the fortunes of the rest of the University campuses.”

Contacts: Lynda Sirk Director of Communication, Antioch University • 937-769-1222

YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio – Antioch University board Chair Art Zucker and Frances Degen Horowitz, co-chair of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, announced today that the Trustees and the ACCC have agreed to meet in person. While details are being worked out, both Zucker and Horowitz stated that the meeting will occur as soon as possible. “We are pleased to have this opportunity to meet together,” Zucker and Horowitz said. “We look forward to a constructive discussion and appreciate everyone’s patience as we move forward.”

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CONTACT: press” title=”mailto:press@antiochians.org\”>press“>press@antiochians.org”>press

March 31, 2008- In a meeting on March 30, 2008, the Antioch College Alumni Association Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution calling for the University Board of Trustees to meet face-to-face with the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC) as soon as possible.

Nancy Crow, President of the Antioch College Alumni Board, said today in a statement: “We strongly urge the University Board of Trustees to sit down with the ACCC and have a meeting with all possible speed.”

She continued, “The continued operations of Antioch College are vital to the nation and to the world. We ask that the two Boards come together to consider all possible options.”

Recently, the ACCC and the University Board of Trustees broke off negotiations concerning the transfer of the College to the ACCC, an independent non-profit corporation controlled by nine distinguished College alumni.

Since the University Board of Trustees announced the suspension of operations in June 2007, Antioch College alumni across the country have rallied to their alma mater’s defense. Alumni chapters have grown worldwide. The Alumni Board is continuing with its fundraising and planning efforts. For additional information on the Antioch College Alumni Association and the College Revival Fund, visit the Antioch College Alumni Association web site, antiochians.org.

For Immediate Release

With Time Running Out, Major Donors and Educational Leaders Urge Reforming of University Board As Only Viable Solution

Yellow Springs, Ohio—March 30, 2008–Antioch University has forfeited an agreement to create an independent Antioch College by dragging out negotiations in an effort to profit from the College’s current difficulties, a group of major donors and educational leaders announced today.

“The issue is not about money – it’s about time,” said Eric Bates, co-chair of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, which was formed to negotiate independence for the historic liberal arts institution. “As a result of the University’s repeated foot dragging it would now be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to receive the necessary regulatory approvals to continue operating the College next year as a separate entity. Through its needless delays, the University has squandered a historic opportunity and created a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

The ACCC’s final offer, Bates added, is no longer on the table. “The University would like everyone to believe that there are ‘remaining financial differences’ with the ACCC that can be broached with the help of outside parties,” he said. “In fact, we set realistic deadlines for the negotiations based on outside, expert counsel on what it would take to keep the College open, without disruption to students, faculty and staff. The University rejected our best and final offer after being given a clear and unequivocal deadline. For their negotiating team to pretend otherwise is simply disingenuous.”

David Goodman, a director of the ACCC who has negotiated dozens of mergers and acquisitions, said the University has misrepresented the reasons that negotiations failed. “This was never about security for the ACCC’s payment,” Goodman said. “We were fully prepared to provide the University with not one, but two forms of security: a mortgage on the campus, and a provision that the College and its assets would revert to the University if the ACCC were unable to continue operations. The ACCC’s offer was both financially reasonable and legally enforceable, but the University made clear that they would not accept the offer – even if their creditors were satisfied with the agreement.”

The issue of security, the ACCC added, is simply the latest in a series of obstacles that the University has invented to impede negotiations. In talks, the University’s negotiating team spoke of its desire to “leverage the College’s assets” and made clear that it did not want to share ownership of WYSO because it wants to explore the possibility of selling the public radio station. “At one point, nearly an entire month was lost because the University continued to demand that the ACCC pay $54 million for the College’s assets,” Bates said. “Under this absurd and outrageous demand, the College would have been required to ‘buy’ its own endowment from the University, at a cost of $22 million. Rather than seeking to find a solution that would benefit all parties involved, the University chose instead to engage in profiteering that prevented a timely and mutual resolution.”

While the University chose to forfeit the ACCC’s offer of $12.2 million for the College, the group emphasized that there is still one alternative that would enable the College to continue operating next year. More than a month ago, the ACCC offered to make an immediate contribution of $10 million in return for ten seats on the nineteen-member University Board of Trustees. The offer stands in stark contrast to the dismally low contributions by the current board, which reportedly total less than $25,000 in the current fiscal year.

The ACCC noted that it has yet to hear a response to its “10-10 plan,” which it is still prepared to discuss. “This is the only remaining arrangement that can enable the College to continue operating next year while creating a truly philanthropic board for the University,” Bates said. “This is not a hostile takeover – it is a remarkably generous and well-intentioned offer by an experienced and supportive group of alumni, six of whom are former University trustees. We remain mystified as to why the board has not acted on this win-win solution that could be enacted within a matter of hours.”

The ACCC said it would welcome the involvement of any outside parties who could persuade the University to take immediate advantage of this simple and effective solution. “It is the only offer still on the table,” said Frances Degen Horowitz, co-chair of the group and president emerita of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. “The best solution at this point is for the University to accept the 10-10 plan and immediately create a philanthropic board of trustees that will provide the leadership and stability necessary for both the College and all the units of the University to prosper.”

For additional information on the Antioch College Alumni Association and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation: antiochians.org.

Yellow Springs, Ohio, March 28, 2008 – Antioch University has rejected a significant and viable offer by a group of major donors and educational leaders that would have enabled Antioch College to continue operating, the group announced today.

According to leaders of the Antioch College Continuation Corporation (ACCC), negotiations to establish independence for the College broke off today after the University rejected the ACCC’s best and final offer. The University has announced plans to close the historic school in June, given its failure to boost enrollment and its inability to raise sufficient financial support from alumni disillusioned with the University’s mismanagement of the College.

“We are deeply disappointed that the University did not take this incredible opportunity to preserve Antioch College, which has long been one of the nation’s most unique and important institutions of higher education,” said Frances Degen Horowitz, co-chair of the ACCC and president emerita of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. “Our offer would have enabled Antioch College to thrive and grow, while simultaneously infusing the rest of the University with millions of dollars in cash.”

The ACCC, which has been negotiating for nearly four months to acquire the College’s assets, offered to reimburse the University what it called a “very substantial consideration” to take charge of the campus by June 30. Working closely with alumni leaders, the group had already raised $18 million to operate the College in the short term, and was preparing to launch a major fundraising drive to secure a total of $100 million to reinvigorate the school. In addition, the group had consulted with some of the nation’s leading experts in turnaround management to prepare a detailed five-year plan to increase enrollment and staffing.

“This is a sad day not only for Antioch, but for all those who care about progressive education in this country,” said Eric Bates, co-chair of the ACCC, who participated in the negotiations. “Presented with an opportunity to both fulfill its fiduciary responsibility and preserve the College’s historic mission, Antioch University chose instead to pursue a path that raises serious questions about its educational values and financial competence.”

The ACCC also noted that Horowitz, who has more than 40 years of experience as a leader in higher education, was prepared to take up residence at the College and make herself available full-time, without compensation, to serve as Chief Transitional Officer during the summer while the group recruited and appointed an interim administration for the coming year.

During negotiations, the ACCC worked diligently to forge an agreement that would serve the best interests of both the College and the University. In an alternative plan presented to the University Board of Trustees, the ACCC offered to contribute $10 million directly to the University in return for ten seats on the nineteen-member University board.

“This arrangement would have eliminated the immediate need for a costly and complex transfer of the College’s assets,” Bates observed. “In addition to ensuring continuous and uninterrupted operation of the College, it would have created a truly philanthropic board for the University – one that would have immediately contributed significantly more than the current trustees have reportedly given this past year.”

The new trustees nominated by the ACCC, Bates added, would have represented the interests of the entire University. “Six of the nine directors of our group are former trustees of the University,” Bates noted. “We appreciate the unique contribution that all of the Antioch University campuses make to higher education and we understand their diverse needs. We know from first-hand experience what is needed to revive the College and realize the full potential of the University’s other campuses.”

The University never formally responded to the ACCC’s proposal to reform the board of trustees. Nevertheless, the group said, it remains hopeful that the trustees will take up the proposal and adopt it while there is still time.

“The University can still recover from its disastrous and misguided decision to close the College,” said Lee Morgan, a director of the ACCC, whose family has been actively involved with Antioch for nine decades. “By adding new leadership and major donors to its own board, it can repair the serious and lasting damage it has caused to its own reputation and restore the confidence and support of alumni that is essential to any effort to revitalize the College. We hope that the trustees will act quickly to take advantage of this simple and effective solution to the crisis facing the University, before it is too late.”

For additional information on the Antioch College Alumni Association and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation: antiochians.org.

News Release
March 18, 2008
Upon receipt

Antioch University and ACCC Have  “Productive Meeting”

YELLOW SPRINGS, OH Representatives of both Antioch University and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation announced that they had a productive meeting today in their ongoing negotiations over the possibility of transferring the assets of Antioch College to the ACCC.

Art Zucker, chairman of the University Board of Trustees, and Eric Bates, co-chair of the ACCC, issued a joint statement on the status of talks. “Everyone is working together to come up with an agreement that will best serve both the College and the University,” they said. “The confidential negotiations are continuing with urgency.”

-From Eric Bates, on behalf of the ACCC.