35 Antioch College alumni representing classes from 1946 through 2008 as well as current students of the Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute met March 29 at Chicago’s Douglas Dawson (‘73) Gallery. Alumni Board President Nancy Crow ‘70, recently reelected for a second two-year term, spoke about ongoing efforts to reopen Antioch College independent of Antioch University. And current Nonstop Community Manager Meghan Pergrem ‘08 and current student Shea Witzberger ‘10 spoke about the Antiochian innovations that continue to unfold at Nonstop.
Report from Nancy Crow
Nancy expressed optimism about the ongoing talks between the negotiating teams of the university and the Antioch College Continuation Corporation for the disposition of college assets. Under the terms of a Letter of Intent signed by both parties in January, they’re aiming to conclude talks by late April, with plans that the majority of the campus, the endowment (estimated at $20 million after recent market losses), the Olive Kettering Library and the Glen Helen will belong to the college, while certain key assets like public radio station WYSO and the Antioch Education Abroad program will belong to the university. Upon successful resolution of talks, the ACCC will become the Board of Trustees of the newly incorporated Antioch College, and Nancy will resign her ex-officio seat on the university board to take an ex-officio seat on the college board. The ACCC is raising $15 million during this 90-pay period, with $6.5 million to be paid to the university and $8.5 million to cover transition costs in restarting the college.
“We hope the keys will be passed in the next few weeks or months,” Nancy said. She said the reopened college will be based on the core values of rigorous academics, co-op, community governance and social justice. She said the Pro Tem Board of the ACCC is planning for better faculty pay, a smaller campus concentrated around the core buildings of Antioch, North and South halls, with 400 students on campus at a time. She called for an expansion of the Horace Mann Society, which includes those who donated $1,000 to the college Annual Fund, and which has recently stood at around 200 people.
Report from Nonstop
Meghan and Shea described the ongoing project of Nonstop, which the Alumni Board committed to fund through June, but which is facing an approximately $50,000 fundraising shortfall.
They described Nonstop as a threefold entity:
- a think tank on progressive education
- a vessel to sustain the values of Antioch College until it can be reopened
- the political movement to keep the college alive (“Nonstop Antioch”)
They talked about how the decentralized classes of Nonstop, held throughout Yellow Springs, have brought the educational program together with the surrounding community in an unprecedented way. A large portion of Nonstop’s small student body is non-traditional age students, ranging from high school age to seniors, and reflecting “a progressive model including a different base of people.” Nonstop is forging new collaborations with neighbor schools like Wright State and Central State universities to develop regional cultural programs. Nonstop is hosting presentations by alumni media makers April 16-19, and an alumni festival and work project beginning June 14. (The official reunion has been pushed back to Oct. 2-4, in the hopes that it can be held on campus).
Nonstop will be a featured presenter at the University of Minnesota’s April 24-26 Reworking the University conference, presenting Nonstop’s achievements in developing alternative educational models and developing open source communication infrastructure.
Call for Support of Nonstop
Many alumni attending the meeting, and chapter organizers in subsequent conversation, expressed a desire to offer our financial and political support for Nonstop. As was pointed out in the meeting, a $50,000 funding shortfall for Nonstop in the face of a $15 million short-term fundraising goal seems egregious. We call for alumni to make dedicated contributions to Nonstop. Covering this gap will mean fulfilling alumni’s existing commitment to complete Nonstop’s academic term ending in June, and also demonstrate alumni’s belief the in the value of Nonstop as a continuation of Antioch College.
You can donate here by making an online pledge and selecting “Nonstop Liberal Arts Institute” in the “Apply My Gift To” section, or by sending a check to the College Revival Fund, PO Box 444, Yellow Springs OH 45387 with “Nonstop” in the subject line.
Here’s a copy of the proposal that Nonstop presented to the Alumni Board in March for the integration of Nonstop into the reopened Antioch College. The Alumni Board agreed to form a taskforce that will further develop the proposal for presentation to the Pro Tem Board upon resolution of talks with the University.
Concept Paper for Independent Antioch College
Last week the ACCC’s Chief Transition Officer Matt Derr ‘89 publicly released his November Concept Paper and Business Plan for the independent Antioch College, which lays out plans for:
- a 3-year academic program (with projected 25% tuition savings)
- 9 14-week trimesters including 6 on-campus study terms and 3 co-ops, the last being international
- “a small number of well-resourced academic disciplines in the arts, business, humanities, sciences, social sciences and technology”
- double degree 5-year architecture, engineering and language programs with partner institutions
- remote instruction during co-ops
- a $30 million campus renovation and construction program
See and comment on the plan here.
Self Promotion Warning
In a sheer coincidence, the Gene Siskel Film Center will screen two Antiochian film programs this Thursday, April 9. At 6 p.m. Nonstop faculty member Chris Hill, an Antioch College video professor since 1997, presents SURVEYING THE FIRST DECADE: VIDEO ART & ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IN THE U.S., a selection of activist videos that she curated for Chicago’s Video Data Bank. See the Reader review.
Then at 8:15, Ed M. Koziarski ‘97 and Junko Kajino’s international psychological drama The First Breath of Tengan Rei screens as part of the 14th Annual Asian American Showcase. See the trailer. The Film Center is at 164 N. State St. in Chicago.
Tags: alumni association, antioch college, antioch university, asian american showcase, chicago chapter, chris hill, film center, gene siskel, matt derr, meghan pergrem, nancy crow, nonstop institute, nonstop liberal arts institute, Pro-Tem Board, reworking the university, tengan rei, university of minnesota