To the Antioch University Community:
Each of us has had the privilege of serving as Chair of the Antioch University Board of Governors. We know from that experience both the responsibility that comes with governing Antioch and the importance of protecting the institution for those who will follow us.
We are writing now because Antioch is facing an important moment in its history, and we want the University community to know that we support the current Board of Governors and its efforts to protect Antioch.
When Antioch entered the Coalition for the Common Good, the goal was to create a new model of collaboration among universities that shared a commitment to education in service of democracy, social justice, and the common good. It was an ambitious idea, and one we believed could strengthen Antioch while creating opportunities that none of the participating institutions could achieve alone.
What Antioch did not agree to do was surrender its identity, its voice, or the meaningful role of its Board in protecting the University.
The current disagreement is ultimately about whether those commitments will continue to be honored.
As former Board Chairs, we understand that there are times when governing a university requires difficult decisions. Board members have a responsibility to ask hard questions, exercise independent judgment, and act when they believe the institution entrusted to them is at risk. They cannot set that responsibility aside simply because exercising it creates disagreement.
We believe the current Antioch Board is fulfilling that responsibility.
We also strongly support efforts to resolve these disagreements constructively. Antioch entered the Coalition because of the possibilities created by collaboration, not conflict. There remains much about the original vision of institutions working together in service of the common good that is worth preserving.
But genuine collaboration requires mutual respect. It requires honoring commitments. And it requires recognizing that partnership is fundamentally different from control.
Our support for the Antioch Board should therefore not be understood as opposition to the Coalition or to collaboration with other universities. Rather, it is support for the principle that preserving institutional identify and protecting self-governance is a necessary precondition for effective participation in such relationships.
Antioch's faculty and staff should be able to focus on educating students. Its students should be able to pursue their education without uncertainty about the institution they chose. Its alumni and supporters should be confident that Antioch's mission and identity will be protected.
We believe the current Board of Governors is working to ensure exactly that.
We stand with the Board of Governors, Board Chair Steve Crandall, President Lori Varlotta, and the Antioch community as they work to protect the University and find a responsible path forward.
Signed,
Art Zucker
Larry Stone
Howard Coleman
Charlotte Roberts
Paul Mutty
Carole Isom-Barnes
Katrin Dambrot