“For months, Antioch has sought mediation aimed at an amicable separation from the CCG. We did not choose this legal battle, but we are prepared to fight it,” said Antioch University President Lori Varlotta.
The University was prepared for the procedural setback it experienced yesterday. Less than 24 hours after the Greene County court denied Antioch’s preliminary injunction on standing grounds, an Antioch University Board of Governors member who also serves as a CCG director filed a new action. She is seeking emergency protection for Antioch’s Board, assets, governing agreements, and employees while the case proceeds.
Antioch believes the director has standing to seek that relief. The court has not yet ruled on the new action. Importantly, the court’s Sept 28 decision addressed who could bring the prior case—not whether Antioch University’s case had legal merits and not whether or not the CCG violated its agreements.
“The Antioch Board of Governors cannot be dissolved as the CCG claims. The Board, the president it hired to advance Antioch’s mission, and Antioch’s faculty and staff know what is best for this University. We are Antiochians. We will not stand down and let the CCG betray the promises and pledges upon which the Coalition was founded,” said Steve Crandall, Chair of the Antioch University Board of Governors.