[Alumni-chat] Antioch: One of the "Colleges That Change Lives"

[besbin (barbara.esbin at fcc.gov)]

I thought that I would post something that I just came across from the website of the author of the book, "Colleges That Change Lives," Loren Pope, concerning the planned closure of Antioch College, along with its URL.  I apologize in advance if this has already appeared, but I think it supports our efforts to save the school and should get wider distribution.  I also recommend Mr. Pope's book, and especially his wonderful chapter on Antioch College, which the author himself describes as "euphoric."  As there is a further link on that page to another posting concerning the College, I have reproduced that as well for the sake of completeness.
Barbara Esbin
Class of 1975

http://www.ctcl.com/book/pope_antioch_response.htm

Loren Pope Responds to the Announcement that Antioch College Will Close 
In the past, when Antioch was having one of its three financial crises of the twentieth century, I would assure parents that if a crisis were really life-threatening, some foundation would come to the rescue, because this country could not afford not to have an Antioch. I said it was the yeast of American higher education, tiny but mighty in its effect. A euphoric chapter in Colleges That Change Lives says why. 
The time has come to prevent a national tragedy: Antioch’s Board of Trustees, lacking funds to maintain a 100-acre campus and its adjoining 1,000-acre nature preserve, has decided to close the campus temporarily but keep the many Antioch University satellite institutions and the Antioch degree intact, with plans to open the campus anew in 2012. 
Hope can be a main ingredient of the best of plans, while what teenagers want is a main campus, with its many attractions and its central focus. To do this, and to restore a healthy Antioch, the Board needs money, lots of it. 


http://www.aacu.org/about/statements/Antioch.cfm

Statements and Letters 
Statement of Regret on Suspension of the Undergraduate College of Antioch University
June 2007
It is with sincere sadness and regret that I received the news this week that the board of directors of Antioch College had suspended the operations of the undergraduate college in Yellow Springs. I know this was a wrenching decision for the board of directors to make. It is a huge loss, not just for Antioch University, but for higher education. I am profoundly grieved that such a landmark institution in American higher education will cease operations at the end of the next academic year.
Throughout its long history, Antioch College has provided a unique and valuable form of education to many generations of distinguished graduates and public leaders. In this century, Antioch’s leadership for the power and value of experiential learning has been widely influential and increasingly emulated.
I had the distinct pleasure and honor to serve on the Renewal Commission for the College appointed three years ago by Antioch University’s Board of Directors to chart a next era of educational leadership for community-based liberal education. The vision developed by the Commission remains compelling and I hope Antioch can find ways to build upon it.
While genuinely sorry that this action was necessary, I am heartened that Antioch College’s longstanding commitment to equity and social justice will live on in its continuing commitment to its regional campuses, all of which serve diverse and non-traditional students and carry forward Antioch’s pioneering commitment to integrate liberal education with real-world learning.
Carol Geary Schneider
President
AAC&U