Antioch College alumni have come up with a plan to keep the college open by having it sever ties with the Antioch University system and stand on its own.
Separating the Yellow Springs, Ohio, college from the larger system would free the college from the authority of the system’s board of trustees, says Rick Daily, the alumni board treasurer. The trustees recently decided to suspend the private liberal arts school until 2012.
Instead, the college would form a separate board, overseen by current president Steven Lawry. While the idea has been promoted before, Daily says he hopes this time they will reach an agreement, given the pending closure of the college. The Antioch University system consists of six colleges and universities, located in California, New Hampshire, Ohio and Washington.
Trustees issued a “declaration of financial exigency” and cited declining student enrollment and subsequent loss of tuition revenue as the primary factor behind its decision to suspend the college.
Lynda Sirk, director of public relations and communications for the system, says the college relies on income from the other five institutions.
“From the very moment [Antioch College] was founded on the principle that it would be able to succeed based on tuition and not endowment, it has struggled financially,” she says. “At the current state of education today, [this principle] doesn’t work.”
The four-year suspension is necessary, Sirk says, to ensure that Antioch College is able to reopen as a stronger and improved institution.
