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 granted a Temporary Restraining Order prohibiting the CCG Leadership from taking any action on the resolutions it passed on Friday, August 28, 2026. The Court also directed the parties to return to the mediation that CCG had canceled less than a week before it was to begin. These temporary restraining orders were in effect from September 1 – September 28. On that day the court denied Antioch’s request for a preliminary injunction on the basis of standing. On September 29, an Antioch University Board of Governors member who also serves on the CCG Board of Directors filed a new complaint in Greene County, 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.

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.

Attempts by CCG Leadership to assert increasing control over the Antioch President and Board of Governors began in early 2026. We invite you to explore the extensive Timeline: Antioch University and the Coalition for the Common Good page, which includes links to numerous primary sources.

The March 12 Board Book is the most important document in understanding how the divide between Antioch University’s leaders and Coalition for the Common Good President John Comerford developed. Rather than rely on competing descriptions of it, Antioch leaders invite journalists and other interested parties to read the relevant pages. 

The report was authored and edited by members of Antioch’s leadership team. It was prepared as a direct response to a request from the AU Board’s Finance Committee. That committee asked the new leadership team to use the data available to analyze the financial and operational position of AU, the CCG’s sole academic division. 

The sections of the Board Book that we are sharing provide the emerging analysis of the Coalition’s governance structure, the economics of programs transferred from Otterbein, leadership costs, and the proposed rollout of shared services.

A few places for journalists and researchers to review include the following. (Please note: the pages numbers provided are based on the PDF viewer’s “page count,” not the page give in the footer.)

• Page 4: The authors affirm that they want the Coalition to succeed. They say the data include favorable and unfavorable findings and that transparent financial analysis strengthens partnership.
• Pages 9–12: The report examines the transferred programs’ revenue trends, instructional costs, and use of investment funds. These are the underlying numbers behind questions Antioch’s leaders brought to the Board.
• Pages 17–19: The report identifies missing elements of the proposed shared-services operating model and sets out a specific alternative sequence for developing it. After noting that President Comerford chose another path, it says: “We are following that direction.”
• Page 21: The conclusion explains both the scope and limits of the work. The authors say the newly assembled data will need refinement; they do not present it as beyond question.

Because this report became a flashpoint in the dispute, its language matters. 

Readers can see for themselves that Antioch’s leaders raised questions, showed their work, acknowledged uncertainty, and proposed a way forward. The analysis was presented as a step towards joint problem-solving. Nonetheless, it was this very report that was characterized by CCG leaders as being disloyal, biased, and manipulative. The CCG president referred the information it contained as a ‘full attack on the CCG.” 

VIEW THE BOARDBOOK HERE

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.

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.