Reopening Antioch College would set historic precedent

Ty Greenlees/Ty Greenlees Mark Roosevelt, President, Antioch College.

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By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer Updated 10:32 PM Sunday, February 6, 2011

YELLOW SPRINGS — Supporters of Antioch College are poised to do something historic when they reopen the school this fall after it was shuttered three years ago for being fiscally insolvent.

“If we pull this off it will be one of the rare occurrences in the history of American higher education,” said Lee Morgan, president of the college board of trustees. Morgan has historic precedent to follow: his grandfather, Arthur Morgan, salvaged the college in 1920 after its last closure.

Morgan hired Mark Roosevelt, a known education reformer, who left the helm of the Pittsburgh schools for an opportunity “to re-examine how we deliver a liberal arts education in the 21st century.” Roosevelt, who has been on the job three weeks, laid out in broad strokes during an hourlong interview how Antioch could be a leader in higher education reform.

“My view of American education is our system is broken,” he said. “We spend more than anyone else in the world. The dirty little secret is, in higher education, only 53 percent of those who start finish.”

Antioch will concentrate on student retention and the college’s long tradition of cooperative education in the work force, he said. But the school still has a lot to overcome before it reopens with six full-time faculty and a “pioneer” class of 25 students, who will attend tuition-free.

Eric Fingerhut, Ohio Board of Regents chancellor, is eager to see the college succeed. “If there is any business that could use a new model, a new strategy, a new way of thinking about their business, it is higher education,” Fingerhut said. “I have a high level of confidence they will succeed.”

Hurdles facing Antioch College

Receive authorization from the state prior to opening in the fall

Earn regional accreditation, which will take four years

Develop a marketing plan to attract paying students

Implement a fundraising plan and find donors

Hire faculty and develop a curriculum

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