September 4, 2007: Antioch University announced on 8/31/07 that Steven Lawry, the President of Antioch College, was stepping down early. Almost immediately afterwards, alumni were informed that the Development Office staff was asked to go home early and locks were being changed. Alumni immediately reached out to each other as well as current staff, faculty, students and Yellow Springs community members to gather support and news.

This morning, September 4, Toni Murdock, Art Zucker, Nancy Crow and Rick Daily had a phone conference. Nancy and Rick expressed to Toni and Art that the alumni association is very unhappy with the way events unfolded on Friday and proceeded to bring the effort to revitalize the College back on course.

Nancy and Rick insisted that:

• The Development Office is not moving. No one in Development is losing his or her job. The University Development office is moving over to the new McGregor building, but not the College Development Office, which is staying put—with new keys.
• The Alumni Board is searching for, and will fund, a senior-level Institutional Advancement position in the Development Office for fund-raising for the College Revival Fund as well as the Annual Fund. This position will be the head of Institutional Relations, and Risa Grimes, will report to this person. Lynda Sirk is solely providing administrative support to the Development Office until this senior-level position is filled.
• Current Development Office staff will provide training on the software Raiser’s Edge.
• The University is still honoring its commitment to provide all of the resources and support that the College can provide to the Alumni Board in their fund-raising efforts. Rick Daily is still traveling with Matt Derr, Laura Fathauer, and Jason Fregeau to Yellow Springs this week to review the financial information from Tom Faecke. Steve Lawry is able to work with the Alumni Board for fund-raising for the Revival Fund, with some restrictions.
• The contact points for the Alumni Board to the College for Development are: Nancy Crow, Rick Daily, Ina Frank, and Matthew Derr.
• Alumni Board members will be meeting with the Ohio Board of Regents and the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges to make sure the alumni will be fully advised about the conditions of accreditation.

The Alumni Board is still moving ahead with its business plan, which includes setting up a separate Board of Trustees for Antioch College. As Nancy Crow has said, “The events of this past weekend demonstrate exactly why we need to have a separate Board.”

The Alumni Board also remains committed to putting in place a Board of Trustees for the College. That Board will be charged with the selection of a new president of Antioch College, as opposed to a Chief Operating Officer, to lead the institution in ensuring the revitalization and long-term health of Antioch College. We will be sending out reports and information every couple of days as the business plan process moves forward.

Last Modified : September 4th, 2007 Filed under : announcements, news Navigate : Previous post / Next post