[Acbostonalums] Bad news about Antioch

[Barbara Wallraff]

Last night the University Board of Trustees voted to reject the  
ACCC's final offer for the College. Following are the relevant press  
releases from the University (the two PDFs), the ACCC, and the  
Antioch Papers.



    


ANTIOCH COLLEGE CONTINUATION CORPORATION





For Immediate Release


Contact:

Lyn Chamberlin

978.443.0400

lyn at skyepr.com






ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY REJECTS FINAL OFFER
TO SAVE HISTORIC COLLEGE



-- Final Alumni Bid Met All Expressed Demands; Additional $6 Million  
Offered --


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."




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


-###-


PRESS RELEASE

The Antioch Papers - May 9, 2008 - -

http://www.theantiochpapers.org

Antioch University Rejects $14.5 million and the Future of Antioch
College

http://theantiochpapers.org/document/101/antioch-university- 
rejects-145-million-and-the-future-of-antioch-college

On April 28th, the Antioch University Board of
Trustees made a historic decision. A majority of the
Board voted to approve an offer by the ACCC to replace
a number of Board members with people distinguished in
higher education, journalism, and business. All were
Antioch College grads, and most had served previously
on the Antioch University Board of Trustees. They
would bring with them their personal financial
resources, exemplified by a $14.5 million gift to the
University/College, and their commitment to correct
the existing Board's fundraising failures.

This renewed Board was ready to keep Antioch College
open. After 9 months with the historic alma mater's
head on the block, the College would be saved. After
every other vote since June, Board Chair Art Zucker
had asked for everyone to endorse the decision so the
Board could speak with one voice. Not this time.

After the April 28th vote both parties negotiated a
few minor changes to the agreement.  The negotiating
teams agreed to change 2 (out of a total of 20)
trustee memberships on the newly constituted Board.
Longtime University/College supporter Lillian Pierson
Lovelace was added to the new Board. Another Board
position was to be temporarily filled for a 6 week
period until the permanent Trustee was available.
These changes could have been approved by a simple
email; instead Zucker demanded a formal meeting and
another vote.

Chancellor Toni Murdock used the 10-day window between
April 28 and May 8 to produce a series of documents to
undermine the original agreement. A new set of attacks
on the proposal to reconstitute the Board and save the
College was emailed to trustees on May 8. A few hours
after receiving these documents the Antioch University
Board of Trustees met by phone to vote again on what
they had already approved. Some of the College's
strongest supporters could not make the call; it was
known that at least one supporter was out of the
country. Despite its formal decision on April 28 to
keep the College open, the Board of Trustees voted
again and reversed itself; on May 8 the Board rejected
the ACCC plan to save Antioch College.

Related Documents for Download at The Antioch Papers

1) Final Proposal - The ACCC proposal that was
accepted and then rejected by Antioch University.
2) Accreditation Conversations - Antioch University
Chancellor Toni Murdock's recollection of discussions
with the North Central Association and the Ohio Board
of Regents.
3) Fiduciary Duties - Antioch University's legal
reasoning for rejecting the ACCC's $14.5 million gift.

4) Grant Resolution - A donor's decision to withhold
funds from Antioch University based on leadership
changes and/or institutional performance.
5) ACCC Biographies - Background information on the
ACCC.


The Antioch Papers
theantiochpapers at gmail.com

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