Lori announced that Steve Lawry ,Toni Murdoch and a Board of Trustee
member were invited to speak tonight but they were not available,
therefore Lynda Sirk, Antioch College Director of Public Relations will
speak as a member of the College administration and will also relay
questions and comments to Toni Murdoch and Steve Lawry. This meeting is
designed to produce working committees that are charged with helping keep
Antioch and Yellow Springs alive and thriving. There will be a global
bake sale on October 25th, 2007 to commemorate the anniversary of Horace
Mann’s speech. Lori reported that the press is in attendance at this
meeting and that WYSO will be podcasting this town meeting on their
website as of Wednesday, July 13th 2007. This meeting will also be filmed
and put onto youtube. Lori gave thanks to the Presbyterian Church for
giving the town this sacred space as a meeting place. Yellow Springs is a
complex community and Lori acknowledged that there are many feelings about
Antioch, but that collectively the town wants Antioch to continue as a
laboratory for democracy, do it yourself organizing, and service. Keeping
Antioch alive will benefit Yellow Springs and all the institutions that
bare Antioch’s name. Many members of the community may be feeling anger
and grief about the situation and this meeting will serve as a way to
address the historical roots of the current crisis. While it is tempting
to scapegoat individual people this is usually counter-productive, and this
meeting is not the place for that. Lori urged that our energy be focused
on the current students, staff, and faculty at the College and that Yellow
Springs can do this in a way that holds the University accountable to the
Village and the College.

Chelsea Martens (Community Manager at Antioch College, 2007-2008)
introduced guidelines for the meeting.1. Respect one another. 2. Let the
facilitator facilitate. 3. Step up, step back. 4. Separate people from
the problem, no personal attacks. 5. Respecting the stack during the
question and answer cession. Chelsea explained the stack format of
maintaining order and allowing all voices to be heard during the question
and answer cession. Chelsea read through the agenda: There will be 45
minutes allotted for various presenters to speak, 30 minutes for a
questions and answer cession, 15 minutes for break-out groups to meet and
then clean-up. Don Benning (YS Resident) is the official timer for all the
speakers.

Community Member Briefings

Steve Duffy (Alum and librarian at Antioch College’s Olive Kettering
Library): gave an overview of the current crisis and long term Antioch
perspective. Duffy expressed his love for the College and Yellow Springs,
which he calls beautiful but imperfect utopias. Duffy gave a timeline as
to why Antioch College is in its current position. Duffy arrived at
Antioch College on June 28th, 1967, when tuition for the College was
$2,700 a year and enrollment was up to 2,300 students. In 1968, the
College brought 200 students here from the inner city to enrich and
diversify the College environment. Duffy jokes in normal Antioch
tradition the College started a program without acquiring the proper
funding. The first crisis hit when the federal government started to yank
large amounts of federal funding. The students at the time wanted a
five-year guarantee of financial aid, but the administrators were only
allowing two years. This caused an impasse and the students shut the
college down. A year later 25% of faculty and staff were let go and this
started a cycle of poverty at Antioch. When the college was having an
internal problem with enrollment, Antioch satellite universities started
to emerge as a way to garner money for the College. There were 32
satellite universities by 1972; these satellite universities were then
pared down to about 8 universities. In 1979, the whole Antioch system ran
out of money. The then Board of Trustees said they didn’t have any money
and everybody worked for nothing and the College employed payless paydays.
Each part of the University was to become self-sustaining. The College
has a much larger campus than the other Universities with 34 buildings;
the other centers are one building each so it took them a shorter amount
of time to bounce back from financial problems. Now in 2007, the other
centers are doing fairly well, but the College is still experiencing
financial difficulties. It costs 19 million dollars to run the college for
one year, due to low enrollment; our revenue was only 14 million dollars.
There was a 5 million dollar Band-Aid put on the budget while the College
tried to increase its freshman classes, but they have not been growing as
fast as the budget would want. Duffy feels that this time the BOT members
were afraid to risk another Band-Aid 3 years down the line. Duffy also
feels that this crisis is a result of bad governance from the BOT and
asked the Yellow Springs community to help the College figure a way to
help save Antioch.

Anne Bohlen (Professor of Film and Media Studies): Anne said she spoke
earlier with Dennie Eagleson (Full-time professor of Photography), which
helped her compose her remarks for this meeting. Anne thanked the
organizers for this event and all that attended. Anne remarked that she
was aghast at the decision of the BOT to close the College. She spoke; as
faculty we are shocked and dismayed that the BOT made this decision
without any direct consultation with the College faculty or key College
donors or alumni and without seriously considering alternative potential
options. Anne acknowledged the serious financial constraints the College
is facing, but still maintains the BOT could have taken a less sever
measure. Anne explained that the155 year history of Antioch is rife with
financial and administrative difficulties and it has faced closure in the
past. Anne shed light on the fact that in the her 15 years of work at
Antioch there have been 8 Presidents, 9 Deans of Faculty, 7 Deans of
Admissions, 6 Deans of Students and 5 Chancellors. Despite this, tenured
faculty have persevered and provided institutional stability. During this
time Antioch College full time faculty has gone from 65 to less than 40.
Anne told the audience that in the mid 90’s, Antioch College embarked on a
series of structural changes and by 1999, the College just started to see
the fruits of its labor, with a student population of 800. Despite this,
the BOT would not allow the College to build incrementally. The following
3 years led to further financial problems through a change in accounting
procedures, these financial problems were not spread out through the
entire structure but rather the onus was to belong to the College. The
centrality and voice of the College within the entire Antioch structure
was diminished and muted and the College soon became merely one among six.
The College also lost its Chief Financial Officer position and became
dependent on the University for this service. The College was
increasingly seen and portrayed as a loser institution. For the last ten
years, there has not been one BOT member that was a Yellow Springs Village
member. Also, faculty lost control of curriculum decisions and Antioch’s
model of shared governance was ignored with the Renewal Commission. The
Commission Report recognized that this would require deficit allowances
and BOT members pledged to financially support and carry the College
through the transition period. Faculty gave the Renewal Commission their
best effort, even with pressure from the BOT forcing the College to start
ahead one year earlier than originally planned. Administrative decisions
were made to allow older students to join the New Plan and graduate
earlier, thus lowering enrollment figures. Also, the idea to start Antioch
McGregor Campus West on edge of town emerged. Why build a new campus, when
the money could be put to good use on this campus? We at the College
thought the BOT would honor its commitment to carry us through. The
faculty created exciting interdisciplinary learning communities and
enrollment has slowly but steadily increased. Soon, hints of structural
changes began to surface this year and it was rumored that there was going
to be a merger between Antioch McGregor and Antioch College. It was
revealed that the College deficit was 10 million dollars larger than
previously thought, due to an unexplained accounting error with no
external audit being offered. The College’s Administrative Council
(AdCil), which is normally an integral council in the College’s budget
process, was barely briefed on the budget. Shortly after AdCil’s cursory
look at the budget, the new Director of Development and the College’s
Controller left the College. Also, thirteen people were laid off in mid
march, with no consultation with AdCil. The Chancellor then confirmed the
rumored possible merger idea. The just launched Coretta Scott King Center
(CSKC) was never given a hint that the College might be closing, only that
there might be a “bit of belt tightening”. Antioch College is known for
shared governance and being a laboratory for democracy. The College
produces students who are excellent critical thinkers, socially conscious
activists and who do well in graduate programs. After the closure
announcement, it was apparent that the consulting firm did not include an
external audit. Faculty were stunned by the announcement and the
well-orchestrated media campaign. Faculty have been liaising with alumni
and considering possible legal action. Hopefully with alumni efforts and
other support from those who are care, Antioch College can come up with an
alternative to closing. Anne said that she is cautiously hopeful that we
can prevail.

Chelsea Martens (Community Manager of Antioch College): Chelsea explained
the role of Community Government (CG). CG is similar to student
government but it is more powerful and encompasses all community members
(staff, faculty, and students). Within CG there are 3 officers, the
Community Manager, Events Manager and Operations Manager. The role of CG
is to facilitate communication and collaborative decision-making that
lends itself to shared governance. This is implemented through various
committees, AdCil Community Council (ComCil), community meetings, and
various groups and organizations within the College. Everyone is a part of
Community Government at Antioch College. CG is an important part of an
Antioch education that instills a sense of responsibility and dedication
to your community. Chelsea explained that when she entered Antioch, the 3
C’s were emphasized in an Antioch College education: Classroom, Co-op and
Community. She said while we do exist in separate communities that already
overlap and merge in so many ways, CG is invested in helping to create a
stronger community between the Village and the College. Chelsea reported
that currently, CG is serving as liaisons to the alumni working committees
and redefining its role in light of the decision to close Antioch College.

Lynda Sirk (Director of Public Relations, Antioch College): Lynda
explained that she didn’t prepare any formal comments. In response to
reference to comments about a well-planned media campaign, Lynda stated
that she didn’t know the outcome of the BOT’s meeting until that following
Monday, hence there could not have been a planned media campaign. Lynda
said despite all of her previous experience she has never dealt with this
type of endurance and persistence with the media. She stated that 23 of
the major media outlets were sitting in the front row during the “Future
of Antioch College” presentation during Reunion. She said that reporters
personally spoke to her and said they knew about Antioch College and
wanted to come tell this story but that they had no idea they would find
such an amazing story. Lynda also said that several press members pledged
to stay with this story until Antioch College is saved. Lynda offered
herself as an “arm of University and Board of Trustees” for this
meeting. She said that they had asked her to listen to everything very
closely and to report back to them via a conference call Wednesday, July
11th to express the town’s views. Lynda announced that Toni Murdoch will
be conducting a weekly talk show on WSYO to publicly answer questions on
the air. Lynda also asserted that she would continue to be a conduit for
the University and BOT to the College and Village.

Dana Patterson (Director of the Coretta Scott King Center): Dana has been
the Director of the Coretta Scott King Center (CSKC) since December 11,
2006. Dana told the attendants that there is no place she would have
rather have been, when asked if she regrets coming, considering the
closure. Dana has been asking herself and others at meetings, “What
becomes of a dream deferred?”. Dana iterated that she is very aware of
all the community organizers and the legacy of Coretta that built this
Center. Dana said the CSKC is not just her dream but also a community
dream. Dana offered the CSKC to continue to serve as a sacred space where
the campus and community can meet. The CSKC is a space where people can
come together, where titles are irrelevant and it is a space in which
people can feel good and of which they can be a part. Dana compared the
CSKS to a beautiful baby, just birthed, with so much potential. The CSKC
will be an advocate for all efforts to prevent Antioch from closing on
July 1st 2008 because it was the specific wishes of Coretta Scott King,
that her name be gifted to Antioch College. Dana declared that Antioch
College must be here for the legacy of Coretta Scott King. The CSKC will
continue to implement programming that serves the vision and mission
statement of the Center. Some upcoming programs include a Ugandan choir
for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Bruce Jacobs, author of Race Manners, will
visit the campus again. The People’s Institute will continue to be a
dynamic group that visits Antioch College.

Judith Hempfling (Village Council): Judith opened by saying that while
she is a member of village council; she is speaking for herself and not on
behalf of the Council. Judith stated that Antioch College and the Village
of Yellow Springs are inextricably linked. Judith then gave a list of the
shared heritage that the College and the Village have: Arthur Morgan, Glen
Helen, Tecumseh Land Trust, the arts community, WSYO, Antioch McGregor,
College Library, the Gym, the Calendar Girls’ Swim Class, Horse Riding
Center, AACW and Blues Fest, Antioch Writers’ Workshop, the Golf Course,
local businesses, lecturers and the CSKC. The ripple effect of the college
closure would be huge. The College is the Village’s largest employer and
user of Village-owned utilities. Judith’s daughter went to Antioch
College and graduated in 2005, and she now currently works and lives in
Brooklyn. Judith explained that before her daughter attended the College
she only heard about the fiscal difficulties but because her daughter was
a student they were able to appreciate Antioch fully. Judith reminded
everyone of the Whitehall Farm preservation effort and that is was made to
protect the Village and was an expression of love for community and
example of when people came together for common good.

Sam Eckenrode (Antioch Alum, Yellow Springs business owner and realtor):
Sam stated that she was very honored to be here and she wanted to give a
brief background to her relationship with the College and Village. She
said that her parents are Frank and Bambi Williams, who have a long
history with the College and the Village. In the 60’s, her family became
involved in College-related functions. In the 70’s, when her dad lost his
tenured professorship they moved away but they later found a way to move
back because they loved Yellow Springs so much. Sam graduated from Antioch
College in the 80’s, has also been a co-op faculty member and later a
business owner and Realtor in downtown Yellows Springs. In response to
many questions regarding how the closing of the College will affect the
town’s property values, Sam responded that she just doesn’t know yet. Sam
stated that markets are very sensitive to perception and perception can
quickly create reality but that individuals can affect that perception.
Sam began to talk about how amazing and wonderful Yellow Springs is, but
due to time constraints was not able to finish her statement.

Miguel Santiago (Alumni Board Member): Miguel described how quickly the
Alumni Board sprang into action when the announcement was made. Richard
Daily created the College Revival Fund, which as of last week
(7/2/07-7/6/07) contains $525,000.00. Miguel stated that these fundraising
and other efforts need to happen in the public eye. He urged everyone to
keep raising the money because it’s the only thing that will make a
difference right now.

Rowan Kaiser (Recent Chicago-Area Alum): Rowan reported that he is
involved in a number of various working committees, such as the CM working
group, the Intercommunications group, and the overall alumni chapters
list. Rowan reported on what these committees are doing now. The
Intercommunications group is setting up antiochians.org. , which among
other things is serving as a forum about what is happening with the
College and Yellow Springs. He invited everyone to visit the website. The
External-communications group is working on a few projects. One project
is Antioch Testimonials, which are Antioch “love letters”, minute long
videos of why the school needs to stay alive. They are also working on a
more systematic media campaign. The Development Committee is identifying
possible donors for fundraising efforts and also establishing a strategic
fundraising effort. Rowan stated that alumni chapters are popping up
everywhere and reported on some of their activities. The San Francisco
chapter is putting together an arts festival, the NYC chapter had a
meeting with the Vice President of the BOT and have posted his statements
online, which say that the BOT will work with the alumni board to keep the
school open. The CM working group is a group of former Community
Managers. They have created a set of action items to save the College.
These efforts plan to keep Antioch College open and healthy.

Judy Wolert-Maldonado (Antioch Alumn and Alumni conduit to Village): Judy
thanked the community for staying the whole meeting. She reported that
she will serve as a conduit and communicate between the Village and
Antioch alumni. Aimee Maruyama is the point person for the Miami Valley
Chapter. Aimee and Judy will brainstorm a more formal way to stay in
contact with local alumni and the Village. Angie Glukov, Associate
Director of Admission, is allowing people to contact her regarding
non-traditional students who want to attend Antioch. Angie urged people
to register for Antioch College classes this fall and spring as
non-matriculating students, which does not involve a four-year commitment.
Judy ended her announcements with Margaret Mead’s quote “ Never doubt
that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Question and Answer Cession:
(Questions limited to one minute.)
Q: The Alumni Governance Committee is looking at the current governance
structure of the whole Antioch system. There are alumni efforts are to
try and bring about a governance structure just for the College. To the
BOT and the Chancellor: What are you doing to keep the college open now?
In the minutes from meeting in NYC, the Vice President of the BOT said
that legal council had advised them that they were not allowed to work
towards keeping the College open. What is the top leadership doing to
keep it open? It was requested that Toni Murdoch answer this on her
radio show.
Q: There are many students from Antioch that join the volunteer Fire
Department, and many students are EMTs. If the College closes, this would
be a huge loss to the community. The Fire Dept. is the only place that
doesn’t charge for an ambulance run.
Q: Aimee Maruyama (Antioch College Director of Alumni Relations): Aimee
stated that as of Tuesday, July 10th when she left the office there were
33 Antioch College Alumni Chapters that are organized around the country.
Q: After the 2nd strike that almost killed Antioch, it was a student who
filed a court injunction that stopped Antioch from closing. Who is doing
creative things in the legal aspect to make the BOT do their job, which is
to support and save Antioch College?
A: Miguel Santiago (Alumni Board Member): Miguel responded to Trudy’s
question, as he is a lawyer on the Alumni Board. He stated that from the
Alumni Board perspective, focusing on a legal avenue would only make the
lawyers really rich and the College really poor. He did not know if the
Alumni Board was going to take legal action yet. He stated that legally,
the university owns the college. He informed community members that all
the BOT members did not vote to close down the College and that the
College can still receive some support from them.
Q: When will Toni Murdoch’s radio show be? Can the university publicize
this?
A: Lynda Syrk (Antioch College Director of Public Relations) Lynda said
she would take that request to Toni and have the University try and
announce when her broadcasts will be.
Q: In what ways can those of us who are in the Yellow Springs Community
help in the efforts to save Antioch College without taking a political
position one way or another? Please be specific.
A: Lynda Sirk: Art Zucker and Toni Murdoch have meetings scheduled with
Eric Swansen, the Village Manager and other village residents to try and
work this out. This information will be put out shortly.
Q: To Lynda Sirk: Many Antioch McGregor students and other Antioch
satellite institutions’ students chose them because of Antioch College’s
rich traditions. The Antioch Universities’ student bodies want to see more
of the Antioch College values and practices in place. These satellite
institutions should be fostering the College.
A: Lynda Sirk: I appreciate that. I am also a McGregor student and could
not have received the same education anywhere else.
Q: During Reunion, BOT members were amazed and moved by the Village and
College connection. Can we get as many BOT members as possible to come to
campus? Let’s put pressure on the BOT to come and see Antioch College.
A: The next regularly scheduled BOT meeting is October 24th-27th. The
BOT members are meeting at Antioch College.
Q: To Anne Bohlen: In regards to the learning communities, these have
been in place and functioning well since before 1965. The CSKC has brought
in incredibly powerful speakers and wonderful global leaders. The CSKC
and Antioch College have to stay open.
A: Anne Bohlen: Yes, these learning communities are not new creations.
They have been around for a while.
Q: Much of the revitalizing effort has gone to the fundraising aspect.
With the sacking of the Admissions Dept., what will ensure that the
College can recruit students? There needs to be a national effort to
recruit these students.
A: Anne Bohlen: College Admissions’ cycles start at least 18 months in
advance. Efforts have already been underway to draw students here. If
the College stayed open, faculty would step up and pick up the phone to
prospective students immediately.
Q: To the University: Is the University aware about how much infighting
goes on between the College, McGregor and the University? Are resources
are being squandered because of this and should that be addressed?
Q: If there are not customers, businesses cannot stay open. How can the
Village continue to pour money into a place if it’s not getting students?
Why is that not the top priority?
A: Angie Glukov: There have been significant efforts to bring in
students for the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 school years. After the class of
2005, Admissions doubled the incoming class in 2006, from 63 students to
125 students. This year the College had an incoming class of between
110-150 students, which was not the 200 that the budget projection
demanded, but the College was growing, just not fast enough.
Anne Bohlen: Enrollment doesn’t exist separate from all the other issues
such as Physical Plant development, faculty, and Financial Aid support,
which was promised and not delivered. Administrative turnover directly
relates to the BOT and their ability to deliver. The College’s endowment
grew tremendously in past years.
Miguel Santiago: There has been a lot of mismanagement on the part of the
BOT and other institutional administration. For an entire year, there was
no College catalogue, which is no way to sell the College. There was not
enough money put into Development and Admissions. We need to raise that
money in order to really revive the College.

Break Out Groups to Form Working Committees
Lori Askeland directed people to sign up for committees and to think about
their own skills and where they can best be used. The suggested
committees:
o Communication & Art
o Fundraising and Creative Development
o Community Support for Faculty, Staff and Students (New and Returning)
Jonathon Platt, (Antioch alum from the ’90’s) encouraged residents to host an Antioch student(s) for
dinner. He also urged the Yellow Springs community to help beef up the
welcome packet to new and returning students.

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