Friday, June 15, 2007

University Closing Down

Antioch College is closing its doors. Yes, that Antioch College.

YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio (AP) -- Antioch College, known for its offbeat approach to education, will close in 2008 because of a money shortage and will try to find enough funds to reopen four years later, the school said Tuesday...

Antioch doesn't grade classes, encourages students to develop their own study plans, and combines academic learning with experience through a co-op program in which students leave campus to work in various fields...

In 2000, death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, gave a taped commencement address. Hundreds protested nearby, including Faulkner's widow.

The college drew national attention in 1993 with its "Sexual Offense Prevention Policy" that required students to ask permission from one another if they wanted to have sexual contact, including holding hands...

The school has been a fertile ground for social activism, with protests from the Vietnam War era up to the Iraq war. In 1994, students took over a building for 32 days to protest plans to turn it into an admissions office instead of a student-activity center.


Good riddance, nutjobs.

3 comments:

Law and Order Teacher said...

I agree with your statement of good riddance to Antioch College. I live close to this bastion of ridiculous education. My major interaction with some of the "students" of Antioch was as a police officer. I was one of many officers who were posted to be a human fence between KKK demonstrators and a group of counter-protestors. While the KKK mental midgets did not disappoint in their stupid pronouncements, the counter-demonstrators, most of whom were from Antioch, were a study in hate. Their language and vitriol directed at we officers reached a new low for filth and hatred. They were incensed that we would not allow them to attack the KKK guys and that we had the temerity to ensure the right of free speech to even the KKK. By the way the KKK guys did not have any words of appreciation for our life threatening protection of them. As for the Antioch demonstrators with their multi-colored hair and interesting tatoos, I was moved to tell one lovely young woman who graced me with her obscenity-laced insight, that she needed her mouth washed out with soap and when that was finished someone needed to use the soap to clean her up. I was overjoyed when that young lady was flipped in the air by an officer on a horse after she refused to leave causing the police to involuntarily disperse them. All in all a good day for the good guys. How did we know they were from Antioch? They proudly told us.

Anonymous said...

It is good to know that the free enterprise system actually works. A bit slow in this case, but it works. I wonder how much George Soros is willing to fork over to this cause?

allenm said...

Yeah, fifty years does seem a pretty long time but it might be better to date the beginning of Antioch's downhill slide to fall of the Soviet Union and the privatization of the Chinese economy. Twenty years is about the right length of time for the 1988 graduates of Antioch to go out into the world, discover that self-actualization isn't a salable skill and have kids.

When it came time to find a school for junior that pesky sense of responsibility that seems to follow becoming a parent overcame fond memories of taking over buildings and protesting the social outrage du jour.