Antioch Turns 150
Notes to the Board of Trustees in 2003
By Dan Kaplan ’76, Chair, Antioch University Board of Trustees

Today begins the first Board of Trustees meeting of Antioch’s 150th year.
Our challenges loom large, but I suggest we put them in perspective. I will begin by sharing a description from a biography of Horace Mann. This is what he faced in Yellow Springs 150 years ago: “It would require a real imaginative genius to give the reader a picture of the primitive condition of that part of Ohio in which Antioch College is located as it was in 1853. It is difficult to imagine the feeling of a cultured educator when first he saw the state of the country, then undeveloped, in which he had chosen to spend his energies. When he first saw it, the site was a wheat field, and only two years before the forest trees had been cleared from the College site and adjacent fields, and the huge stumps were still standing.

There was a great discomfort in the College buildings. The stoves, which were to heat the entire structure, did not arrive for quite a while after the school opened, and the first meals eaten in the dining room were from tables made by spreading boards across the joists, the dining hall not yet being completed, except the framework. Stock was running at large in the village and surrounding neighborhood. Twice Mr. Mann planted his garden with seeds and plants from his New England home, only to have it destroyed by the stock that had free range of the streets. All this, and much more, did Mr. Mann have to endure, for there were various kinds and degrees of trouble which he either had to settle or ignore.”

“Clearly, Antioch has faced worse times than we face today. We face issues of enrollment, endowment, resources, and the College’s long-term viability - issues not nearly resolved. These issues don’t represent imminent threats, but they do represent long-term threats.”

But like the patient who has left the hospital, her health stabilized, the choices we make here will have a dramatic effect on our future health. We will make choices that impact our ability to survive another 150 years.

Rather than coming up with short-term fixes, we now begin to think about the big, trategic issues.

When we met in October, the Presidents shared with us what kept them up at night. I don’t know if they’re sleeping better today, but I do want them to know: we are on your side; we are all on the same side. Your issues are our issues. When we ask questions, it is to better understand an issue, so that we might help solve it. Our role is not to grill our management team, but to provide a forum where together we can seek solutions. I mention that for both the benefit of the ULC and the Trustees. When you are successful, we are successful, Antioch is successful.

Our role as trustees is making sure things don’t go terribly wrong, but this is only part of our role. There is a word I like better to describe our role: steward. It implies that we are entrusted with the responsibility to safeguard Antioch - both its traditions and its future.

To be the steward of Antioch is not to accept the status quo. To be a steward of Antioch is to be mindful that our role is to be a leader, not a follower. Stewards of Antioch know that just keeping the doors open is not enough.

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