[Alumni-chat] Antioch College Supporters Call for Good Faith Negotiations by Antioch University

[Matthew Baya]

http://saveantioch.org/2008/02/25/antioch-college-supporters-call-for-good-faith-negotiations-by-antioch-university/

Antioch College Supporters Call for Good Faith Negotiations by Antioch  
University

Supporters of Antioch College call on Antioch University to negotiate  
in good faith over the future of the college. The university issued  
conflicting statements Friday about the state of talks that could keep  
the historic college open.

Andrzej Bloch, Antioch College Interim President, stated Friday in an  
open meeting at the college that Antioch University trustees did not  
hold a vote on the future of Antioch College. However, a university  
press release the same day stated that Antioch College would not be  
open at the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.

Initial reports in the media stated negotiations to transfer authority  
of Antioch College to the recently established Antioch College  
Continuation Corporation (ACCC) failed. Sources close to the talks  
indicate that negotiations continue, and the Board of Trustees have  
expressed a willingness to continue discussions with the ACCC.

Meeting Sunday, members of the coalition of college supporters known  
as the Antioch College Action Network (ACAN) rejected the University’s  
statement that the College would suspend operations June 30. ACAN  
understands that Antioch College will not operate under Antioch  
University beyond June 30th, but that does not preclude operations  
under the new corporation ACCC. While hopeful of a positive outcome to  
the negotiations, ACAN is committed to developing bold, creative  
initiatives and actions to support continuous operations of the college.

Alumni raised $18 million in cash and pledges to keep the college  
open, and the nine members of the ACCC have personally pledged $8.5  
million. The trustees have thus far balked at the ACCC’s offer to  
acquire the college.

According to Antioch University’s own press release, the Board of  
Trustees continues to negotiate a possible transfer of Antioch College  
to the ACCC. If this transfer is successful, it is possible that  
Antioch College will begin operations under the new corporation for  
the 2008-2009 academic year.

If Antioch College is transferred to a new corporation, Antioch  
University would not be responsible for the decision to resume  
operations under a new corporation for the 2008-2009 academic year.

ACAN members believe that by publicizing the apparent closure of  
Antioch College on Friday, February 22nd, Antioch University  
administrators may not have acted in the previously agreed upon mutual  
good faith and may have damaged delicate negotiations, demoralizing  
the college community.

ACAN members are asking the Antioch University administration to  
publicly address these issues: 1) the inconsistencies between Bloch’s  
statement and the university’s press release; 2) the source of the  
statement that Antioch College will not operate in 2008-2009; and 3)  
the Trustees’ plan for the continuation of the negotiations with the  
ACCC.

ACAN members also call into question the experience, competence and  
objectivity of the Feasibility Work Group charged by the trustees with  
evaluating the ACCC proposal. The Work Group includes members who have  
demonstrated public hostility to the college, none of whom attended  
the college, and none of whom has expertise in private residential  
liberal arts education.

University chancellor Toni Murdock, who serves on the Work Group, was  
the subject of no confidence votes by the faculty, staff and students  
of the college, as well as by the faculty of Antioch Seattle, where  
she previously served as president.

ACAN is an independent collective of autonomous alumni, students,  
faculty, staff, and friends of Antioch College and villagers of Yellow  
Springs. ACAN is a grassroots movement working collaboratively for a  
continuous and sustainable future for Antioch College. ACAN has no  
affiliation with Antioch University, the Antioch College Continuation  
Corporation, the Antioch University Board of Trustees, or the Antioch  
College Alumni Association. ACAN is responsible for the content of  
this statement. For more information about ACAN visit http://saveantioch.org/

If you support this message, please lend your name to the cause by  
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http://saveantioch.org/2008/02/25/antioch-college-supporters-call-for-good-faith-negotiations-by-antioch-university/