Jon Baker posted the following to the Antioch College Alumni & Community Facebook group.
This is the fear mongering now being perpetrated by certain folks at the College to scare the students. Instead of ranting about baseless claims, let’s look at the role alumni have played in keeping Antioch alive:
When the University announced the closing of the College in 2007, 600 alums showed up on campus for the reunion, determined to fight the closing and save the College. Over the next two years they organized, raised funds, built support and fought the University trustees to free the College from under the grip of the University. With hard work, and a lot of fund raising they succeeded and the College reopened as a free and separate entity in 2009.
Then alums went to work to get the College up and running. Fund raising continued, alums stepped in to help in a variety of places. No better example is the Alumni Volunteer Work Projects where alums returned to campus several times a year to help fix up the place. I led several of these projects, repairing the library’s inadequate lighting, fixing plumbing, painting walls, getting vehicles repaired, etc.
Fund raising continues to this day. As noted in the Auditors’ financial report, some 45% of Antioch’s annual expenses are covered by our gifts. Students’ tuition only provides 11% of the expenses.
So, after all this work, all this sweat and all this money do folks really think that now we want to close the College? No, we do not. We’re fighting the exact same fight just against a different set of folks that are slowly but surely driving our beloved school into the ground.
Look past the rumors, look past the unfounded fears to what we’ve actually done for Antioch. There are no stronger supporters of Antioch then its alums.
