DaytonDailyNews.com

A resolution approved by the Antioch University Board of Trustees on Saturday, June 7, could mean there is a future for Antioch College in Yellow Springs.

The resolution requests that the Antioch College Alumni Association create and present for approval a plan, timetable for implementation, and resources for development of a four-year college.

Antioch spokeswoman Lynda Sirk said this marks a first step to reviving the 155-year-old campus.

"The board of trustees is committed to working with the alumni association," she said. "(Trustees said) you put together a plan and bring it to us."

If this latest effort is accepted, Antioch College would operate independently of Antioch University with its own, independent board of trustees.

In June 2007, trustees had announced they would close Antioch College.

On Sunday, news of the unanimously approved resolution came just two weeks before the college's alumni reunion and just hours before faculty members prepared to vacate their offices and lecture halls on Monday, June 9.

Anne Bohlen, a faculty leader, said she was waiting for clarification of the board's decision from the alumni association. "We're not sure what this actually means," said Bohlen, an Antioch professor for more than 16 years.

The college will close June 30 for at least a time unless faculty members win a pending lawsuit against the school.

"While the planning is going on, the facility will need to close," Sirk said.

Nancy Crow, president of the alumni board, in a news release posted on the alumni online site antiochians.org, said: "This is a resolution supporting complete independence from the University. Additionally, the Board of Trustees is asking the alumni to create the process, not to work within a prescribed process."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2384 or arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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