No More Professors’ Dirty Looks …
Antioch College is about to close, and undoubtedly the accompanying hand-wringing will include an intense search for someone to blame. Unfortunately, there are plenty of worthy candidates:
- Antioch’s board, for failing to direct the implementation of policies that could have staved off such financial disaster.
- The college’s office of institutional advancement, for failing to adequately solicit donations to keep the school afloat.
- The school’s alumni, for failing to support the institution that gave them so much.
For the primary culprit, though, look in the mirror.
Antioch’s core values — free thinking and social activism — are actualized in individualized curricula that students develop for themselves and that eschews grading. This is antithetical to the direction the rest of society is taking. We want accountability and quantification. We want numbers and statistics and measurable improvement.
The nonprofit sector itself is seeing a similar sea change. Both institutional and individual donors, encouraged by self-appointed watchdogs, demand to know exactly how their dollars are being used and exactly how effective their participation is. Which is all well and good except when it buries a unique institution such as an Antioch under a pile of ROI queries. | 501(c)
Tags: Antioch College
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Boards, Education, Fundraising
2 opinions for No More Professors’ Dirty Looks …
Amanda Caserta
Mar 31, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Funny you’d take that stance… when the Board decided the same thing as you a number of years ago, and took over the curriculum to change it (less student motivated work, less work experience, more basic classes - the things you can get at any cheaper state college) that is when the numbers declined. Antioch College has always been a niche market, and when the University Administration wanted it to become more mainstream, that is when it’s numbers drastically failed and people left/decided to apply elsewhere.
Student
Tom Durso
Apr 1, 2008 at 5:56 am
Thanks for your note, Amanda, and my condolences on what’s happening there. It would be great if the people who truly care about Antioch could get together and find a way to return to what made it so special in the first place.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: