Antioch college's main campus shutting down

<p>Here is part of an article that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It notes that Antioch College is closing down their main campus in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
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<p>Antioch College, a 154-year-old liberal-arts institution in Ohio known for activist policies, will close next year because of budget deficits and dwindling enrollment, college officials said on Tuesday. </p>

<p>The college is the residential undergraduate component of Antioch University, whose Board of Trustees voted over the weekend to shutter the campus under a plan that calls for fixing its finances and reopening it in 2012. Antioch University also has five nonresidential campuses around the country, all of which are to remain open. </p>

<p>"The decision was agonizing," said one trustee, Barbara Slaner Winslow. "For many of us, the meeting was like a funeral," said Ms. Winslow, an Antioch alumna who is an associate professor of women's and social studies at the City University of New York's Brooklyn College. </p>

<p>Antioch officials said revenue from the college's small endowment of $36.2-million and tuition from a projected fall enrollment of 309 students would not be enough to cover budget shortfalls, which have been exacerbated by the cost of maintaining Antioch's historic campus, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. </p>

<p>"We really need a much larger critical mass of students," said Tullisse A. Murdock, chancellor of Antioch University, noting that only 125 new freshmen were scheduled to arrive next fall. Of the decision to close the college, she said: "Certainly it's going to be a huge disappointment to our college alumni." </p>

<p>The trustees also declared a state of financial exigency, which means most of Antioch College's 160 full-time faculty and staff members will be laid off by July 2008. College operations will be suspended at that point, but a university spokeswoman said an undetermined number of staff members would stay on to maintain facilities. The university will also establish a commission to determine the college's long-term future, and some staff members might be included on that commission. </p>

<p>Students can finish their degrees at Antioch University McGregor, which is part of the college campus, according to a written statement from Antioch. They will also be offered "reasonable opportunities" at the other university campuses and assistance in transferring to other institutions. </p>

<p>"We're going to do everything we can to graduate" the senior class at the college, said Steven W. Lawry, president of Antioch College. Mr. Lawry said the board appeared serious about reopening the college in 2012, but he acknowledged that it would be difficult to achieve that goal. </p>

<p>"The new Antioch has to be persuasive to Antioch College alumni that we have a strong governance model in place," Mr. Lawry said.</p>

<p>taxguy, thanks for posting the CHE article -- good information. Also, the Antioch New England Web site has a good discussion; it mentions that Antioch College students with junior status at the end of 2008 (when the college closes) will be encouraged to transfer to other Antioch campuses. Personally, if I were in that spot, I'd go for Antioch Santa Barbara! It doesn't get much better.</p>