In brief, the Board risked the College's well-being with the imposition of an ill-considered Plan, failed to provide promised support, and then closed the College....
We must ask who benefits from this? What is Antioch University without the College? The College is the only one of the University's branches with tenured faculty, a unionized staff and self governance. What of Antioch's identity do they care about preserving? If they can't raise funds now, how can they start from scratch four years from now with abandoned buildings and an entirely new faculty and student body to recruit? What will become of the abandoned employers in the Cooperative Education program, Antioch's mark of distinction? How financially healthy are the other campuses of Antioch University - has the College become a convenient scapegoat? Again we need to ask who benefits from this? In fact, the University stands to receive all the College's assets - the Glen (a 900 acre nature preserve), the library, the endowment, the buildings, the land, the legacy of Antioch.
Can the Board and University administration which conducted their review of the College's recent situation in secrecy, in violation of our governance policies, without consulting faculty and staff who stand to lose their livelihoods and professions, be trusted with the College's current assets, its legacy and its future?
The faculty will be exploring legal action to stop the College's closing and preserve tenure and the college's assets. We seek the support of alumni in this endeavor.
After all, this is America.
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