When alumni of Antioch College planned their annual reunion for this past weekend, no one was expecting it to turn into a three-day meeting to save their alma mater.
But just a week before the reunion, Antioch’s trustees announced that a shortage of students and of money had forced them to close the college, in July 2008 At the reunion, angry alumni grilled the trustees about the decision, how it had been made, and how it had come without warning.
Later, about 700 alumni pledged a total of $424,000 toward a $40-million effort to revive the institution’s finances. According to a news release, the alumni were challenged to collectively contribute $40,000 by the end of the weekend. But in just 18 hours, more than $400,000 was raised.
Only $39.6-million to go. —Erin Strout
