Frequently Asked Questions

The CCG Board passed three resolutions:

1. an attempt to dissolve the Antioch University Board of Governors
2. an attempt to take control of the bank accounts and funds of Antioch University
3. an attempt to interfere with Antioch’s relationship with the Higher Learning Commission.

CCG Leadership also unilaterally ended the mediation process. This is nothing less than an attempted hostile takeover of Antioch University.

From a legal perspective, Antioch attorneys are filing a temporary restraining order to block these actions.

From a communication and community perspective, we refuse to accept these invalid and unlawful actions. Antioch will explore all viable avenues to preserve the institution, maintain its independence, and safeguard its distinctive mission.

Yes. The court in Greene County, Ohio has granted the Temporary Restraining Order prohibiting the CCG Leadership from taking any action on the resolutions it passed on Friday, August 28, 2026. The prohibited actions specifically include dissolving the Antioch Board of Governors or accessing Antioch University bank accounts or funds.

Nothing. The Board of Governors will continue to operate as delineated in the 2023 legal agreements signed between Antioch University and Otterbein University when the CCG was formed. For 174 years, the Board of Governors has operated in the best interest of Antioch and nothing the CCG Board attempts to do will change that. Our Governors are Antiochians, and they are focused on the best interests of Antioch’s students, faculty, staff, and supporters

No. President Varlotta was hired by the Antioch Board of Governors and the CCG has no authority to terminate the President or other university leaders. President Varlotta remains the President of Antioch University. The Board of Governors has affirmed its support of President Varlotta and confidence in her leadership.

The CCG Board can approve significant changes ONLY IF first approved by the Antioch Board of Governors and the Antioch Standing Committee—none of which has happened. The CCG Board has no authority to change the Bylaws or governing agreements without Antioch’s consent. This is codified in the Affiliation Agreement and governing documents agreed upon by Otterbein and Antioch Universities three years ago.

We believe our legal strategy and position are strong. We are taking all necessary legal action to preserve the institution and our autonomy. We are grateful for and will continue to need the Antioch community to raise their voices in support and solidarity in ways that are genuine to you as individuals or members of groups you choose to engage.

“Advisory Board” is the label used in the 2023 governance documents. The name of a legal entity does not determine its authority; the rights and authorities negotiated in the contracts do. In this case, the AU Charter gives the Antioch Board express approval authority, not merely the ability to make recommendations.

MYTH: The Antioch Board of Governors may make recommendations but the CCG has ultimate authority.

FACTS: Not true. The agreements that formed the CCG are clear.

The CCG cannot do any of the following without Antioch Board approval: approve operating and capital budgets; make amendments to the CCG Bylaws and Strategic Operating Agreement; change Antioch’s institutional accreditation, contracts and asset transactions, institutional shared governance; initiate shared services; or eliminate the Antioch Board. The Antioch Board also has general oversight responsibility for Antioch University, including the hiring and firing of the Antioch President. The CCG board simply does not have the authority to do what it is trying to do unless approved by Antioch.

Additionally, the Antioch Board appoints the Antioch Standing Committee. The CCG must get the prior approval of the Antioch Standing Committee before it does any of the things mentioned above. To be clear, the governing document were deliberately written to provide not one, but two layers of protection for Antioch’s independence.

No. The governing documents divide decision-making authority among the CCG Board, the Antioch Standing Committee, and the Antioch Board of Governors. The CCG was formed carefully, specifically to allow Antioch and Otterbein to remain independent. The formation of the Coalition was not the end of Antioch.

MYTH: Dissolving the Antioch Board of Governors and relegating its authority to the CCG board will simplify the governing structure and improve decision-making.

FACTS: The governance structure was deliberately designed to provide layers of mandated approvals that give Antioch significant protections. For numerous matters, the Antioch Standing Committee must approve an action before it may proceed to the full CCG Board. The Antioch Board separately possesses approval rights over many of those same matters. The CCG can neither bypass approval requirements nor undo protections codified in the agreement through a simple vote of the CCG Board. Therefore, the steps it attempted to take on August 28^th are invalid

No. The Antioch Board and its approval rights were integral parts of the negotiated affiliation between Antioch and Otterbein. They were not constructed as temporary governance arrangements that could simply be withdrawn at some later date. The Charter itself provides that it may be amended only by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Antioch Board. The CCG Bylaws also require Antioch Standing Committee approval for amendments to the Bylaws and Strategic Operating Agreement. This did not occur.

MYTH: The CCG board delegated powers to Antioch and can simply revoke them at any time.

FACTS: Antioch and Otterbein created the CCG through negotiation and agreed from the outset on which powers would remain with Antioch and which would be exercised by the CCG Board. To be clear, Antioch gave the CCG its authority, not the other way around. And it never gave CCG the authority to change or take over Antioch without Antioch’s consent.

The President of Otterbein certainly is behind this hostile takeover. Whether or not it was agreed to by the Otterbein University Board, we have no idea. In the field of higher education, however, such a decision would normally require approval or at least oversight by the university’s governing board: the Otterbein University Board of Trustees.

MYTH: The ongoing dispute does not involve Otterbein.

FACTS:  Two universities came together to create the CCG: Antioch and Otterbein. They were a part of the model at the beginning, and they will remain connected for as long as the CCG exists. To say that Otterbein is not involved is nonsensical.

The agreements establishing the Coalition preserved significant decision-making authority for Antioch over matters including its President, faculty, academic programs, accreditation, budgets, contracts, shared governance, and shared services. Antioch’s institutional independence must be understood in light of those negotiated protections.

MYTH: Antioch is not independent from the CCG. 

FACTS: The governing documents were written to ensure that Antioch remains a distinct university—one that is independently accredited, maintains its own name, establishes and embodies its mission, hires and fires its President, recruits and retains its faculty, determines its academic programs and delivery modes, and maintains its campuses

The disagreement is not simply about the corporate name appearing on an account. It concerns who may authorize expenditures, change signatories, control assets, and make other financial decisions affecting Antioch University.

MYTH: The CCG Board has always been responsible for Antioch’s finances and bank accounts.

FACTS: The 2023 governance documents specifically give the Antioch Board approval authority over budgets, indebtedness, contracts, asset transactions, gifts and grants, and other financial matters. The corporate relationship with CCG does not eliminate those negotiated approval requirements.

The Coalition was created through a series of interconnected documents negotiated as part of the 2023 affiliation. They include the Affiliation Agreement, Strategic Operating Agreement, CCG Bylaws, Antioch Board of Governors Charter, Shared Services Agreement, and related corporate documents.

On August 28, the CCG Board passed three resolutions: one purporting to dissolve the AU Board of Directors, another to try to obtain full access to the AU bank accounts, and and a third seeking to interfere with the independent relationship AU has long maintained with its national accreditation organization, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). During that same meeting, the CCG Board also unilaterally voted to cancel the mediation that was scheduled for less than a week away. Later that night CCG President John Comerford attempted to fire AU President Lori Varlotta. Since these actions are nothing short of an illegal, hostile takeover, the AU Board decided its best option was to pursue judicial relief.

On September 1, the court temporarily restrained implementation of the August 28 action while the dispute proceeds. That preliminary order preserves the status quo; it does not determine the ultimate merits of any claims. 

The legal process will continue, and we are confident in our position. At the end of the day, however, a satisfactory resolution requires Otterbein to live up to the commitments it made when it first signed the 2023 agreement with Antioch that formed the CCG

We know this news may be unsettling, but we want to reassure students that the University will continue operating normally while these issues are resolved. We do not expect there to be any changes to your class schedule, your curricula, your student experience, or your tuition as a result of these board actions.

Nothing. Antioch is fully prepared to serve its students with classes and courses of study as expected.

For students who entered their Antioch graduate program through a Graduate Early Admissions Pathway, we don’t anticipate any changes to your status or to your path to graduation. We expect to honor the commitments we have made to our students, and we will reach out to the approximately 30 currently enrolled students who entered via GEAPs to reassure them of this.

Initial reviews indicate that Antioch’s affiliation with CCG is not beneficial or sustainable in its current form. We will pursue all means of preserving Antioch as an autonomous institution.

This invalid, unlawful, and disruptive step does not change anyone’s employment status.

Yes, and members may contact their bargaining unit representatives for more information.

No. Lori Varlotta remains the President of Antioch University, and the leadership team will continue to serve Antioch in their roles as usual. All faculty and staff roles, responsibilities and reporting remain the same. If you are told anything to the contrary or have concerns, please contact [email protected], and forward any message you have received. We will make sure you receive a prompt response.

The Coalition for the Common Good was envisioned by a group of Antioch University leaders.  Several years ago, this group originated the concept to be “a social justice league of universities.” As originally designed, the new organization would deliver our mission-driven graduate programming to more students through partnership with residential liberal arts colleges and potentially other partners. 

The Coalition’s founding motto was Collaboration, Not Competition. Founded in 2023 by Antioch University and Otterbein University, initial plans called to begin adding more partner institutions within the first year. Three years later, there are no new partners in the pipeline. To date, the effects of the Coalition include these: significant changes to the governance structure for Antioch University, the transfer to Antioch of all of Otterbein University’s graduate programs, and the creation of Graduate Early Admissions Pathways that have helped approximately 30 Otterbein undergraduates enter Antioch graduate programs with a substantial tuition discount.

Official planning for a potential affiliation began in October 2018 at an Antioch University Board of Governors and faculty retreat in Los Angeles. Antioch hired an investment banking firm, the Royal Bank of Canada, to build a process that identified potential affiliate institutions with whom Antioch could partner to strengthen its financial position and missional reach. To be clear: AU aimed to strengthen its financial position at the time, the CCG was not formed as the “last resort” or as the savior for Antioch. Conversely, AU was looking for partners while it had much to offer in terms of tuition revenue generation, centuries-long legacies, and national brand.

Over the following years, Antioch considered dozens of universities as potential partners, and on July 14, 2022, Antioch Chancellor Bill Groves and Otterbein University President John Comerford agreed to a preliminary deal that was refined over the course of the next year. An affiliation agreement was executed and effective on June 30, 2023. At the signing ceremony, Chancellor Groves said, “I'd like to emphasize first what this is not. This is not a merger. This is not the situation in which one of the entities is absorbing the other and the other ceases to exist.”

The CCG Board of Directors’ duty is to build and support the Coalition—something it has failed to do— not to take over Antioch University

Antioch will primarily focus our time, energy and resources on the AU community—AU faculty, staff, and most importantly, students—separate from the CCG. Antioch continues to operate under the leadership of the AU Board of Governors and President Varlotta. AU leaders will put on hold all meetings with the CCG, and they will refrain from following any ultra vires directives from the CCG board until the Court sorts this out.

If more energy had been expended by the CCG Board on designing a financial model that benefited all entities associated with the corporation, the CCG may have had a more attractive value-add proposition to share with prospective members. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, no university or college has expressed a willingness to go through membership due diligence or have even shown a strong interest in learning more about the CCG. Hence, three years into operation, there are no new academic partners.

Antioch developed the concept, approached Otterbein as a potential partner, and theoretically remains supportive of the original vision of the Coalition—a system of affiliates with shared goals, expanded academic offerings, and benefits for all partners. Had the novel and promising vision been implemented as planned, as “a coalition of equals,” AU would not be at such odds with the CCG and Otterbein. But nowhere in the AU originators’ vision was the CCG meant to be a vehicle that allowed one of the founding partners to engage in a hostile takeover of the other.