Oct. 5, 2009 - 12:30 p.m.Lyn Chamberlin, Director of Media Relations for Antioch College, called me this morning to give me some facts and figures from the reunion weekend, so I could correct the enrollment figures in the article below. I asked her to comment on this post, but recognizing that some folks might not bother to read the comments, I am also updating it with her remarks:
We welcomed 450 REGISTERED alums. And that doesn't count the un-registered alums who came. One older alum told me, regarding the weekend: "I have never felt so connected to the college before."
Julian Sharp launched the volunteer program. We had over 50 alums at the work project, the largest work project in recent history. One alum was up at 2:30 a.m. buffing the library floors.
We are very proud to report that the auction brought in over $37,000. We raised well over $210k in the tent on Saturday night, so we've raised over a quarter of a million dollars.
It was indeed a wonderful new beginning for Antioch, celebrating all that the loyal alumni have done to save their alma mater over the last two years.
Antioch College Chief Transition Officer Matthew Derr giving Antioch Hall the once-over with some alums.
Alumni gathered outside the Herndon Gallery Saturday morning.
The work to freshen up the campus was still ongoing on Saturday morning as the Nonstop Antioch plaque unveiling was about to begin.The thing that struck me as I approached the Antioch campus Saturday morning to cover the Nonstop Antioch plaque unveiling was the lack of cars. Parking was not, as I had anticipated, going to be a problem. And there were not very many out-of-state plates.
Lingering around outside Herndon Gallery, there was less of a crowd than I had expected.
"Where is everybody?" I asked Channel Five cameraman Super Dave.
"They're all still inside," he said. "There are a lot of them in there."
But they never materialized as a small crowd of onlookers gathered around the entrance to Antioch Hall for the ceremony. It seemed like most of those attending were townies, local alumni and local former faculty.
A few weeks before this weekend's reunion the Alumni Association reported that 100 people had registered, but they were still expecting around 500. They were asking villagers to open their homes to the crowds they expected to overflow local motels. But the deadline, as reported on their Website, was extended as registrations lagged. Unfortunately, the predicted late surge of Antiochians, it seems, never happened. The list on www.antiochians.org of those who had registered to attend numbered 256.
Is this a sign of a lukewarm reception by the alumni of the new Antioch? I doubt it. Is it just that everyone was busy, or the notice was too short? Maybe they are not used to attending Antioch reunions in the fall. Whatever the reason, one has to wonder what it might mean for the fund raising effort.
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5 comments:
Virgil, I hope you are correct that the lack of attendance represents folks who were interested but were previously committed elsewhere.
However, since the early seventies I have observed what appears to me to be a pattern of Antioch associated people who get high on demonstrating for causes (ala sit-ins, marches, carrying placards, loud voiced hyperbolic speeches and amassing hanger-oners), but when the hoopla subsides, the rush does not resolve into getting down into the weeds and doing the work to produce a viable productive outcome.
I am hoping this last effort will prove otherwise, but as you are bothered by the prospect of waning lack of sustained interest, so am I.
Its a race against time. Don't forget Antioch's largest student population was in the 1950s to early 1960s. After that the numbers really dropped. So you're looking at alumni in their 70s and 80s. Not many of those folks are keen to camp out on the golf course or come to join a work party. If they stayed home and mailed in a check, still good.
It's the economy, mostly. I'm a '90s alum, came from NYC. I noticed a lot fewer from my age cohort than in the past couple of years, including a lot of people who are plenty engaged, but with money tight and the job market being as it is, I think a lot stayed home. Also, on-campus housing was limited. Where reunion is usually held in June, this time, it was cold, and most of the festivities were held in a tent or outdoors. I think there's probably a little disengagement now that the adversarial stuff is over, but mostly, it's just an extremely tough year to do this. Still, hey, I'd say there were at least four hundred in that tent, maybe more.
It was a successful reunion for the new Antioch College. One should not make assumptions based purely on attendance numbers. Other factors were key in making a successful reunion such as:
The work projects that were happening throughout campus and in the library, having started mid-week with alumni volunteers of a variety of generations working together; a live auction that surpassed the goal of $10,000 (over $30,000 was raised in a few hours on Friday night, by the alumni); a renewed sense of hope for the re-opening among many alumni who were previously quite skeptical of any progress with the negotiations processes... the list goes on.
If one were to have engaged with many of the alumni present at this past weekend's reunion, even in under one hour's time, one would have quickly noticed that alumni came to Yellow Springs this weekend from all over the country (Colorado, California, New York, Michigan, Florida, Maine, etc...) - one cannot assume to know where most alumni have come from by viewing car plates alone. Many flew in and were picked up by fellow alums.
Lastly, I cannot convey the intensity of emotions that was felt (and expressed) at the ceremonial lighting of Main Building and the ringing of its bell on Friday evening. It was, for me, like the lifting of a thick, dangerous fog that was encumbering the heart-felt efforts to save this historic and beloved institution for far too long.
For having a reunion scheduled in the chillier month of October (rather than the usual time of year), I dare say that it was quite a successful reunion. There is much work to be done, but more importantly, there needs to be a trust in and a recognition of the love and commitment that alumni (and former staff and faculty and YS villagers) have for this college. Alumni from all decades, even the '80s, '90s and '00s, have been quite productive in working toward this re-opening.
In solidarity,
juju W.M.
(YS townie and AC alumna)
Thanks for your coverage of Antioch's incredibly successful Reunion this past weekend. But allow me to correct a few of your facts and figures.....
We welcomed 450 REGISTERED alums. And that doesn't count the un-registered alums who came. One older alum told me, regarding the weekend: "I have never felt so connected to the college before."
Julian Sharp launched the volunteer program. We had over 50 alums at the work project, the largest work project in recent history. One alum was up at 2:30 a.m. buffing the library floors.
We are very proud to report that the auction brought in over $37,000. We raised well over $210k in the tent on Saturday night, so we've raised over a quarter of a million dollars.
It was indeed a wonderful new beginning for Antioch, celebrating all that the loyal alumni have done to save their alma mater over the last two years.
We look forward to your continuing coverage.
Lyn Chamberlin
Director of Media Relations
Antioch College
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