February 28, 2007

President Steven Lawry
Antioch College
Yellow Springs, OH

President Lawry,

We greet you in the name of reason and a shared concern for the
future of Antioch College. As past Community Managers, we have
invested a significant amount of energy into the development of the
College as one of this nation’s pre-eminent institutions of higher
education devoted to the critical education of young adults. In this
time of rampant militarism and threatened democracy, the historical
role that Antioch College has played as a refuge for non-
conformists, critical thinkers, and impassioned doers, is more
important now than ever. It is out of this deep love and respect for
our College, that we address you today.

Since your assumption of the Presidency of the College in the spring
of 2006, we have been increasingly troubled by the subtle and not so
subtle shift of the College towards a top-down corporatist culture.
Throughout your brief tenure, the time-honored traditions of open
community-wide deliberation and inclusion of the diverse segments
that make up the Antioch Community in the decision-making process,
have been radically assaulted and left gutted. As you claimed area
after area, issue after issue, as your sole executive realm, the
greater Antioch Community acquiesced in the hopes of a better
tomorrow. That tomorrow has not arrived.

Instead, the College is faced with continued financial instability,
an alienated student body, a faculty unsure of its future, and an
increasingly concerned network of alumni. Your latest decision to
restructure the area of Student Affairs, leading to the termination -
either temporary or permanent - of James Williams as the Dean of
Students, is indicative of the chronic mismanagement that has
characterized your young presidency. Time and time again, you have
either unilaterally or with the close counsel of an isolated and
inaccessible coterie of administrators, made decisions that not only
violate basic common sense, but that also hurt the College in whose
interest you are paid to work for.

This decision is also in line with a historical pattern at Antioch
College, namely the removal of persons of color from the College’s
employment. Antioch College has continuously failed to
systematically grapple with its institutional racism. This is a
shameful disgrace that no amount of pandering or misappropriation of
deceased alumnas of color can hide. The stark truth of who is first
to be fired speaks to the falsity of your words of racial justice at
the College.

Jimmy Williams has been an exemplar of a caring and nurturing
educator. At times, he has been the sole person universally trusted
by the Antioch Community. Very often, Jimmy was the only one willing
to go to bat for students. More importantly, he was always willing
to speak up for a fair and deliberative process. It would do you
well to reflect on the example Jimmy has left.

Once again, we find ourselves in the position of publicly denouncing
both your actions and the processes you used to reach your terribly
flawed decisions. Nevertheless, we appeal to what shred of reason
might exist within you, and ask that you reinstate not only Jimmy,
but also all of the valued community members whose very livelihood
you have threatened. We understand that the College’s finances are
in serious condition, but we firmly believe that the consequences of
financial mismanagement should be borne by those responsible for
those decisions. We ask that you personally take responsibility for
the financial situation of the College and reduce your pay. We also
ask that your fellow high administrators do the same. If the
direction of the College is the direction set by the President, we
ask that you be accountable for that direction, both in good times
and bad times.

To the dedicated faculty of Antioch College, we offer our support
and eternal gratitude for the invaluable guidance you provided us.
We hope that the College’s administration will live up to its
responsibilities and fully support your intellectual endeavors and
the teaching you do. We also hope that you will find your collective
voice and take the mantle of leadership that is rightfully yours.
The time for reflective action is now.

To the tireless employees of Antioch College, we offer our humble
thanks and acknowledge that you are the heart and soul of the
College. We hope that Antioch will continue to be an environment
that nurtures each and every one of you, which values your unique
contributions, and gives you the respect that you earn daily. We
also hope that you hold the administration accountable for their
disrespect and cowardice.

To the zealous student body, we offer you encouragement and
reflections from outside the bubble. The fight for the soul of
Antioch is yours to win or lose. Without you, there is no College.
We hope that each and every one of you will find creative and potent
ways to resist the erasure of Antioch’s unique culture. The time for
discussion is at an end. Only forceful and immediate action on your
part can stem the flooding purge of what we value and hold dear.

To the concerned alumni, we offer you our trust that you will
advocate for the values and culture that have made Antioch College
dear to our heart. We thank you for your continued service to the
College, and ask you to join us in holding President Lawry
accountable. We share your belief that positive changes are needed
at the College, but we do not believe that those sustaining changes
are possible with President Lawry or his band of insiders, at the
helm.

Despite our physical distance from Antioch, we remain bound to this
little college in Ohio by the sheer awe of what our time there did
to us. We are eternally grateful, and it is out of a fierce love
that we speak and act. We cannot and will not be silent as we see
everything we cherish and hold dear, stripped away from the College.
Our College. We hope that we can once again provide leadership to
our community, and begin an honest and serious conversation on the
future of the College. A conversation that is inclusive and not
driven by the narrow interests of the self-appointed guardians of
Antioch. If we truly value Antioch, if Antioch is worth keeping
around, then we must critically engage with the systemic problems of
the College. Let us begin that conversation now. Antioch is ours to
keep or lose.

In Love,

Shelby P. Chestnut `05, Community Manager 2005-2006

Daniel E. Solis `06, Operations Manager 2005-2006

Chad A. Johnston ‘01, Community Manager 2001-2002

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