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“There’s the bullshit, then there’s The Blaze.”
Fall 2007 issue one Antioch college
blaze@blazenews.org
M
any educational institutions
are designed to reproduce the
patterns of our culture and the
systems of our society. They
socialize students to adapt to the world as
it is as the surest means for getting ahead.
Currently these colleges design programs
to, as they say, “meet market demand.” Re-
search can offer statistics as to what most
people want and how they like it. We hear
students nowadays want country club col-
leges with successful sports teams as well as
majors that will lead to high paying careers.
To make money, institutions chase markets,
obsess over branding, and yet often wind up
resembling one another.
But what about the uncommon student,
the one who is questioning the whole show?
Or the one who has grave questions about
the direction in which the world is going?
One who does not want his or her thinking
to be dictated by either religious orthodoxy
or by advertising agencies? What about
students who don’t fit the profile of the
ordinary American student who wants to
fit in, slide through and get ahead? What
about those who think we need to create
altogether new ways of living and work –
ing together? Or those who actually want
to see the world, instead of being satisfied
with sound bites and graphic images?
What about those who are deeply con –
cerned about the vital issues of our day, such
as the grave environmental challenges we
are facing, US involvement in the Middle
East, or the increasing disparities of wealth
in the US and abroad? What about those
disturbed by the control of the media and
the political machine by large-scale corpo-
rate interests? Or by the conditions and re-
strictions pertaining to women worldwide?
What about those who are driven to
invent new cultural forms that express
perspectives and experiences largely hid –
den from official view? What about young
people who want to wake the nation from
its virtual sleep walk, who want to raise hell,
artfully? What about those young students
who want the US to finally live up to the
provisions stated in the Constitution and
Bill of Rights, and believe all governments
should honor the ideals enshrined in the
UN Declaration of Human Rights?
Since the 1850s such non-ordinary stu –
dents have found a home, a haven, a work-
shop, a think tank, or an ashram here on
these sacred grounds of Antioch College.
Today is Founders Day and I would like
to address the visionary genius of Antioch’s
founders. There are too many of them to
do justice to in one short talk. Antioch is
in perpetual ferment and re-invention. In
addition to some remarkable presidents,
there have been numerous faculty and stu-
dents who have left their mark, enriched
the college and benefited the world. But I
will speak about two whose vision and pas-
sion have clearly left an impact still with us
today: Horace Mann, who started the Col-
lege in the mid 19th century, and Arthur
Morgan who renovated it in the early 20th
century. My aim is to emphasize the kind
of thought process I believe these founders
went through, since I consider it central to
what I regard as the irrepressible Antioch
spirit of inquiry and action. As you will
see, this method of inquiry has produced a
vision and program that is what we might
think of as holistic and progressive. Today
we can draw lessons from these founders
based on what they said and did. Y et it is
especially important for us to ask how we
might be inspired by their example to in –
vent, create, persist, and succeed given the
challenges we face at this moment.
In attempting to reconstruct their
thought process, I have abstracted the fol-
lowing steps: the visioning process is ini –
tially sparked by the persistent experience
of tension between, on the one hand, how
the world is, and, on the other hand, how
the world ought to be, how it can be, how
it must be. They itch, feel discomfort, get
irritable, speak out, rant, rave, until ulti –
mately they seek to resolve this conflict by
asking this question: what is it that we need
to learn in order to change the world from
what it is like to what we would like it to
be?
This quest becomes a college environment,
a curriculum, and a pedagogy. The program
involves impartial, sustained, fearless in –
quiry into how things are and how they
work, the laws and dynamics, the problems
and the pain, as well as the achievements
and triumphs. Inquiry also involves how
things ought to be, that is: which values,
visions, systems, rules, laws, habits are the
most conducive to human well-being and
the most sustainable
over time?
The founders are
clearly pressed to
question: What can I
do? What can we do?
In pursuing this line
of thinking one may
enter with crude no –
tions, often idealistic;
but one’s vision can be
refined, relations with
like-minded others
identified, a shared
set of values and com-
mitments discussed.
An ideal community
formed.
Dialogue becomes
necessary: what kind
of world do we want?
Are we capable of
it? Or is humanity
doomed by its own internal demons? The
curriculum becomes a terrain of struggle:
how are the readings, discussions, projects,
etc., actually yielding a deeper understand-
ing of the world and its prospects?
The pedagogy involves another struggle:
precisely how are the assignments and
projects developing the skills students will
need to address the challenges we face in
the world? What is the role of the faculty
at such an institution? Can informed citi-
zens truly change the world? What meth-
ods work, once we know what needs to be
done? How can we make sure we do not
unconsciously repeat the errors of the past?
I am convinced that the founders who de-
signed Antioch College went through this
kind of process as they drafted the themes
and principles of an Antioch education.
Horace Mann grew up learning of the
values and ideals expressed in the Gospels
and the Greek and Roman Classics as well
as the ideals of the early American Repub-
lic. But around him he saw a society rife
with corruption, the cruel institution of
slavery, a sexism that denied women equal
education and equal pay, unremitting reli-
gious dogmatism, extreme poverty, lack of
opportunity, plus the devastating effects of
alcoholism. In this fledgling democracy,
beset with so many divisions, the people
utterly lacked the education needed to real-
ize what its leaders had identified as their
inalienable rights.
Mann was proud to be an American but
ashamed to die complacent before its fail-
ings. Prior to coming to Antioch, he had
already become known for pioneering the
common school system in the state of Mas-
sachusetts. Mann had conceptualized the
urgency of universal education in America
this way:
“…The establishment of a republican
government, without well-appointed and
efficient means for the universal education
of the people, is the most rash and fool-
hardy experiment ever tried by man. Such
a Republic may grow in numbers and in
wealth. As an avaricious man adds acres
to his lands, so its rapacious government
may increase its own darkness by annexing
provinces and states to its ignorant domain.
Its armies may be invincible, and its fleets
may strike terror into nations on the op –
posite sides of the globe, at the same hour.
Vast in its extent, and enriched with all the
prodigality of nature, it may possess every
capacity and opportunity of being great,
and of doing good. But if such a Republic
be devoid of intelligence, such a Republic,
with all its noble capacities for beneficence,
will rush with the speed of a whirlwind to
an ignominious end…”
Horace Mann accepted the presidency of
the new Antioch College since it afforded
an opportunity to put his vision to action in
higher education. He and his spouse, Mary
Peabody Mann, arrived in Y ellow Springs
in 1853 to commence this difficult task of
addressing the world’s ills through sound
education. At his inaugural Antioch ad –
dress Mann directed the audience to:
“Look into the marts of business, the halls
of government, the framework of social re-
lations. See how avarice overreaches by law,
or plunders without law; how fraud rises to
wealth on steps made solid by perjuries;
how governments are perverted from the
welfare of the governed to the selfish ends
of the rulers.”
In the face of these stark injustices, Mann
couldn’t resist envisioning a society in which
the disparity between rich and poor would
be greatly reduced, where slavery would be
abolished and fraternity established, where
conflicts between religious sects could be
overcome, where peace would pervade the
land, and where individuals would grow up
healthy, strong and productive. Mann would
design a curriculum to train graduates who
would be able and energized to overcome
the divisions of the country, leaders who
would help the young United States live up
to its professed ideals.
In the mid-nineteenth century virtu –
ally all colleges were driven by religious de-
nominations, and virtually all students were
wealthy white men. Antioch would be dif-
ferent. Women would be accepted to the
same curriculum as men. Black students
would be admitted. Scholarships would
help poor students attend. The college
would be non-sectarian, though it would
strongly affirm Christian moral values.
Mann himself would give weekly homilies
to insure both of these provisions. “The
truth is,” he wrote at the time, “the iron bars
of orthodoxy do not allow a man to expand
into the qualities indispensable for touch-
ing the common heart of men.” Antioch
students would learn how to escape these
limits, to embrace a wider world.
This new college would also depart from
the norm by emphasizing science, not only
the state of our knowledge, but also the sci-
entific temper: the experimental approach,
the attitude that there is always more to
learn, and always improvements to make
in how we learn and how we apply that
learning. This approach reinforced the cen-
terpiece of Mann’s educational theory: the
education of the whole person.
Horace Mann assumed that if we culti –
vate the whole – this he meant the physi-
cal, intellectual, and moral capacities of the
person—students will not only rise to meet
the expectation of the Creator, they will also
have the strength and endurance to address
the massive challenges ahead in a cruel and
vicious world that is resistant to change. Yes,
from the beginning Antioch was a kind of
boot camp, as some said, a cross between
Harvard and West Point. The courses were
demanding. Public speaking, as well as
writing, was emphasized. Independent
study was initiated. Unlike elsewhere, aca-
demic awards and prizes were disallowed
at Antioch so students would not become
lured away from the genuine rewards that
come from the pursuit of excellence for its
own sake. But for Mann the high intel –
lectual and physical standards were of any
value only if the moral or ethical character
of the student was perfected alongside.
In his inaugural address of 1853 Mann
warned, “to render the cultivation of the in-
tellectual nature beneficial or even safe; nay,
to save it from being baneful, it must be ac-
companied by moral education. As warp
and woof, when woven together, make a
texture a hundred fold stronger than either
taken by itself, so must moral education be
inwrought with intellectual to give strength
to the character of youth…. In a man de –
void of morals, the intellect often acts as a
mighty pander to all the evil passions. In
a man devoid of intellect to foresee con –
sequences and weigh probabilities, a blind
devotion to one… object makes havoc of
whatever other… objects may stand in its
path.”
Sterling morals, determined scholarship,
avoidance of tobacco and the devil’s brew.
And over two hours of exercise every day.
Four years of this regimen and students
were ready to save the Republic and, in his
immortal words, “win victories for human-
ity.” At his final commencement address
of 1859 Mann defined those victories.
“Nothing today prevents this earth from
being a paradise
but error and sin,”
he proclaimed. He
then identified the
following errors, not
just for the benefit of
students, but also to
enlist the large crowd
in the crusade:
“The disabilities of
poverty; the pains
of disease; the ener –
vations and folly of
fashionable life; the
brutishness of ap –
petite, and the de –
monisms of passion;
the crowded vices of
cities, thicker than
their inhabitants; the
retinue of calamities
that come through
ignorance; the physi-
cal and moral havoc of war; the woes of
intemperance; the wickedness of oppres –
sion, whether of the body or of the soul; the
Godlessness and Christianlessness of – are
the hosts against which a war of extermina-
tion is to be waged, and you are to be the
warriors. Never shrink, never retreat, be –
cause of danger!”
Like his illustrious predecessor, from an
early age Arthur Morgan was beset with
the realization that humanity was not liv –
ing up to its capacity and that the solution
lay in reforming education. Morgan was
disturbed by widespread political corrup –
tion, economic inequality, and rampant
waste. He observed with alarm the in –
creasing decline of community life. Mor –
gan believed that colleges and universities
should be designed to prepare students for
constructive engagement in the world. But,
instead, these institutions seemed trapped
in frivolous traditions that inhibited stu –
dents from seeking change and left them
disinclined to advocate it. Specialization,
in spite of the many advances and discov –
eries it had spawned, left college graduates
unable to see life whole and collaborate
across the professions. In his experience as
an engineer Morgan had discovered over
and again that engineers, lawyers, and other
professionals were too narrow in their in –
terests and perspectives. Disastrous deci –
sions were the repeated result. Corruption
saw to it that one’s friends instead of the
best rose to the top.
Morgan’s thinking seemed to follow the
same process as Mann’s: what kind of edu-
cational system would best prepare gradu-
ates to creatively and effectively engage the
critical challenges of his era? Soon after he
came to Antioch in 1920, Morgan designed
a holistic liberal arts program that would
equip students to become world-wise and
ethical-minded entrepreneurs or agents of
change. Integral to an Antioch education
were these emphases: the conscientious
search for purpose, the alternation of work
and study, the broadening of general edu-
cation, and the development of the whole
personality nurtured in a vibrant learning
community. The vision was lofty, the cur-
riculum original, and the expectation ex –
ceptional. Morgan was passionate and per-
suasive. He traveled the country to recruit
a world-class faculty whose background
and commitment would insure the suc –
cess of this unique program. The College
was soon featured in articles in prestigious
magazines. Within a few years Antioch was
achieving national recognition. Its students
came to vie with the best in the country by
any measurement.
But in spite of Morgan’s relentless efforts,
behind the success of Antioch were first the
mission, then the model. In his Thanksgiv-
ing address to students and faculty in 1924
he declared:
“Our dream is of a time when aspira –
tion, enthusiasm, and commitment to fine
purpose, developed to the utmost, shall
control and use all the energies of life; of
a time when aspiration and consecration
shall be directed and rigorously disciplined
by science, illumined by ripe acquaintance
with great minds and spirits, supported by
sound physique, prepared for effective work
by thorough training, and made acquainted
with the world by rich experience. Then we
shall dare to dream great dreams, of our –
selves and of our world made new, without
fear that they may be but mists of the night
to vanish when daylight comes.”
Morgan expected that students so dis –
posed would shed outworn assumptions
and habits as they moved between peri –
ods of work and study in an atmosphere
of continuous inquiry and application. At
Antioch, they would build their own com-
munity while broadening their horizons by
learning from the histories and literatures
of other civilizations. Morgan realized that
this mission would be lifelong. It would
grow best if unbound by national borders
and blinders. As expressed in his widely
circulated Antioch Notes:
“If we can survey the whole cultural in –
heritance of mankind, select the elements
of universality and of most enduring values,
and weave them into the texture of our na-
tional thought and life, we can forerun a
greater and finer civilization than the world
has known. Education in America must
mean nothing less than this.”
Yet one sees over and again in Morgan’s
work an ability to conjugate the ideal with
the real in order to chart a wise course
of action. He was well aware of the risks
posed by great passion when too narrowly
channeled, whether on the part of radicals
or reactionaries. Morgan admonished his
readers to be vigilant and methodical:
“The reactionary would keep his whole
inheritance for fear some good might be
lost. The radical, one who pulls things up
by the roots, would cast it all away because
of the evil it contains. The problem is never
so simple. The good and evil are mixed to-
gether and frequently look alike. Only skill,
knowledge, discrimination, and wisdom can
distinguish them. Liberal education at col-
lege should develop ability to replace blind
‘radicalism’ and blind ‘conservatism’ by the
capacity and desire to discriminate.”
Many educational institutions reproduce
the current practices of our culture and so-
ciety. Very few are founded to persistently
question those patterns and, where war –
ranted, to explore alternatives that are more
healthful and sustainable. Antioch has been
one such progressive institution. In the
years after he assumed the presidency in
1921, Arthur Morgan’s vision and passion
would propel the College from obscurity
to national prominence. In the years ahead,
Antioch would evolve its curriculum as it
incorporated new faculty; and the College
would refine the process of community to
involve students at every level. But I be –
lieve that one characteristic persists over all
these years: Antiochians relentlessly “dare
to dream great dreams, of ourselves and of
our world made new.”
At this time, when Antioch rests un –
steadily on the precipice of its existence let
us summon the energy needed for Antioch
to fearlessly address the challenges of our
age. New ideas and new strategies will
emerge. But I believe that the prescient vi-
sions and aims of the founders is even more
essential today: to educate the whole per –
son, to integrate inquiry and action, to build
community through shared governance, to
honor the vital roles of both science and
ethics, and to promote—across the span
of arts and sciences—the determination to
achieve victories for an ever more imperiled
humanity.•
The Antioch Legacy
The Dazzling
Vision and
Relentless
Passion of the
Founders
“The chief
limitations of
humanity are
in its vision, not
in its powers of
achievement.”
–Arthur Morgan
By Jim Malarkey
