[Alumni-chat] Lord of the Flies

[hopeless (debra_good at yahoo.com)]

True to my word (see below), I bid you all adieu.  I'll not post here again.

Deb '83

>With the news of Steve Lawry stepping down, we must all be wondering what's going on.  I know I am.
>
>There are a number of possibilities.  Here are a few of them (in no particular order):
>
>1.  Steve was fired by the BoT and/or the Chancellor.
>2.  Perhaps the BoT and/or the Chancellor recognizes there may be some hope with regard to reviving the College and want Steve to focus on helping the AB formulate their business plan and raise funds.
>3.  Something happened that made Steve want to leave immediately.
>
>The list could go on and on.  At this point we don't really know what happened.
>
>WARNING: The rest of this post will be filled with my ideas and opinions and I'm mentioning this right now to avoid any further threats of litigation, etc.
>
>Steve Lawry has brought a well-defined clarity to the mission of saving the College.  It seems to me that the AB proposal to the BoT last weekend was well in agreement with some of the issues Steve has been addressing and speaking to and about since his arrival at Antioch.  Steve is an effective public speaker, a gentleman and a scholar.  He has a special gift in being able to assess the health and sources of dysfunction of an institution in very little time.  Upon his arrival, he wasn't given a warm welcome by many at the College.  Despite the hostility he encountered and the continual attacks on his leadership, Steve rose above it and has maintained a respectful attitude toward the people and issues at Antioch.
>
>Though Steve could have taken a back seat since the announcement of his resignation, which was to be effective December 31, 2007, he continued to be an active participant in efforts to save the college and disseminate information to various parties by appearing at chapter meetings in other locales and, from what I understand, making himself available on campus.   I don't know of many people in his position who would do so.  I think it speaks very well of him and his commitment to Antioch.
>
>For a host of reasons, Antioch College has been suffering for many years.  The College is constantly in a worrisome financial state and the academic programs have suffered because of it.  Antioch has also been having trouble attracting and retaining students for a very long time no matter what anybody says.  All of these things are connected.
>
>The BoT scheduled a web seminar (webinar) to communicate to all interested parties financial information in support of their decision to declare financial exigency.  This information was essential to our understanding of the situation and would have allowed us to make more intelligent decisions on how to proceed.  Unfortunately, the faculty prematurely filed a lawsuit against the Trustees effectively aborting that webinar.  The BoT were roundly criticized for waiting until the last minute to cancel the webinar.  I would like to remind everyone that in order for them to make that decision, they would have had to gather enough people to discuss the issue and consult with their lawyers.  They had less then two days to decide.  That being said, I don't like the way the initial decision to "suspend operations" was made or passed down.  One would have hoped the BoT would have at least consulted with some of the stakeholders before making that fateful decision.
>
>Last week, the BoT held an open meeting in which interested parties and stakeholders were invited to give input.  There was a great showing of support for Antioch College as measured by input from students, faculty, staff, alumni and former trustees.  I don't know whether the BoT was sincerely interested in hearing our input or if their lawyers or public relations consultants suggested it would be a good move but maybe it doesn't really matter.  They came and they heard.  Whether this will change anything remains to be seen.
>
>I listened to hours of podcasts of the BoT meetings in their entirety (with the exception of the latter part of the open forum held on Saturday morning which I am still in the process of finishing).  I found it interesting but also disappointing.  Much of the support is in the form of emotion and that's fine but, truthfully, I don't think the presentation of the AB proposal to the BoT was as powerful as it should have been.  When a Trustee asked the AB Treasurer exactly how much cash we had raised to date (as opposed to pledged donations), our Treasurer was unable to give a dollar figure.  He mentioned he knew what the number was as of "last week" ($250,000) but he still had a lot of checks in his briefcase and would be meeting with a representative of the bank on the following day.  That looked very bad strategically in that the AB doesn't appear organized or super-competent.  I'm not mentioning this to be needlessly critical. I understand the entire AB is working very hard on
>volunteer time and I think that's wonderful but I do think we need to appear and be more organized and professional.  Furthermore, I wish the AB would act a bit more like a representative body.  By this, I don't mean they should prepare a business plan online with us, but communications from them are sorely lacking and I cannot understand why they don't solicit ideas for visioning and the like from the vast number of brilliant and competent alumni who are not even participating on this chat, for good reason.
>
>I haven't been living in Yellow Springs since I graduated in 1983 although I have visited numerous times.  I know the College wasn't in good shape when I attended and in my view, it hasn't really improved much since then.  On each of my visits to Antioch, I have made a point of trying to engage and reach out to faculty and staff members as well as students.  I've been donating money to the College, either through contributions to the annual fund, the library or the The Antioch Review for a few years after it lost its funding from the College.  I've encouraged many friends to do the same over the years.  I believe in what Antioch used to stand for.
>
>After participating on these chats, I don't know what Antioch currently stands for but if the chats are any indication, I don't like it.  Antioch College in its current morph seems more like an ongoing dress rehearsal for Lord of the Flies than a liberal arts college.  The culture seems stifling and I know this because when I post messages on the chat, I get private e-mails from people who say they agree with me but don't feel comfortable posting on the chats either because they work at the College or they don't want to be attacked as they think I have been for speaking out.  They are simply afraid.
>
>Don't get me wrong.  I am not blaming the students.  I don't even have much contact with current students but the students from the past 10 or 20 years who are most vocal on the chats appear, with a few exceptions, politically naive, poorly educated with inadequate analytical and writing skills (which may be a function of the technology) and lack an understanding of both the business and academic worlds.  I am very bothered by the fact that they do not appear to be independent thinkers and seem to be easily led due to their susceptibility to politically leftist rhetoric.
>
>If, in answer to my prayers to the God I do not believe in, Steve Lawry does stick around to help the AB with the formation of an independent Antioch College Board and participate in fundraising and visioning with them, I'll pledge with my heart, soul and wallet and encourage everyone I know to the do the same.
>
>If not, I'll fade away from this exercise in futility and remember what Piggy said in Lord of the Flies, "How can you expect to be rescued if you don't put first things first and act proper."
>
>To quote William Golding, "What was the sensible thing to do? There was no Piggy to talk sense. There was no solemn assembly for debate nor dignity of the conch."
>
>Sadly,
>Deb Goodman, class of 1983