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The Blaze Presents: Antioch in Exile
In the 1800s Yellow Springs was home to the underground railroad; in the 1940s it became
a safe haven for Japanese Americans targeted by the US government; in the 1960s its
residents hid activists in “transient mode.”
The continuing uncertainty over the future of the college and loss of valuable time for
recruitment and planning for an up-and-running Antioch College by fall 2008 have led a
number of students and faculty to discuss alternative ideas to continue classes past July
2007 to oppose a closing or bridge a possible transition period.
In an attempt to continue the legacy and institutional memory of Antioch College, we, The
Blaze, call on the villagers of Yellow Springs to sustain the legacy of their predecessors and
unite with faculty, staff and students of The College in beginning the planning for ANTIOCH
IN EXILE.
We seek creative ideas to accommodate students, find teaching locations, and fundraise in
support of faculty, staff and students that want to be part of this alternative endeavor.
We invite alumni and sympathizers of the College to join this discussion, to generate ideas
and to consider donating time or resources to this initiative. We hereby call for proposals for
ANTIOCH IN EXILE.
Negotiations between the University Board of Trustees and the Antioch College Continuation
Corporation (ACCC) will come to a temporary conclusion at the February 21-23 meeting in
L.A. While no one is certain of the outcome of this meeting, we need to be prepared for a
negative decision, in the form of a delay of the vote or a decision to close the school by July
2008. Either decision will force the college to temporarily discontinue operations and, quite
possibly, to never open its doors again.
But even if trustees do decide to embrace the opportunity that lies in front of them and
transfer the college to the new corporation, the damage inflicted on the College in past
months and years is severe and might call for faculty and student to once more make the
impossible possible.
We do not want to wait for what is handed down to us. We want to secure the spirit of the
current community and enable it to be passed on to the next generation of Antiochians. We
are not ready to let it die!
WHEREAS we fear the illusory ease of making a decision in a vacuum, thousands of miles
away from the community whose future is at stake;
WHEREAS we fear the Board putting all its faith into the Chancellor to supply the
information on which it will base its decision;
WHERES we fear a vote taken without the opportunity for direct communication between all
members of the Board and the ACCC and other stakeholders of the community;
WHEREAS we believe in the mission of Antioch College and the strengths of community;
WE THEREFORE ask you to join hands now in organizing for ANTIOCH IN EXILE, to continue
the legacy of Antioch College and the village of Yellow Springs.
FIRED UP and burning with passion,
The Blaze Editorial Collective
