jeannekay
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« on: July 19, 2007, 09:20:52 AM » |
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I would like to share an interview/debate I had with Mr Keyes last December about an article that he had published in the Yellow Springs News that presented a similar view of Antioch College as that in his recent article in the Chronicle. As much as I was shocked by Mr Keyes diagnosis at the time; I am even more so now, as the news of Antioch's closing provides a justification for a view that does not represent that of the majority of the Antioch College community-- and which is not, in my opinion, accurate in the least.
The interview was published in The Antioch Record, in December 2006.
Not my Antioch
Debate with author of letter “End Antioch’s Toxic Culture” in Yellow
Springs News
About one month ago, I was leaning over the library counter when my eyes
fell on a newspaper article glued in front of me: “End Antioch’s toxic
culture” said the headline. I read, and my mouth fell open as I learned
that Antioch was unsafe, that its soul was endangered and that we suffered
from a “hostile, intimidating, aggressively vulgar campus environment”. At
that point, not only my mouth was open but I was jumping up and down,
waving my arms around and exclaiming “This is not Antioch! And this man is
an alumnus? And he lives in Yellow Springs? How could he be so mistaken
about what’s going on here?”
Two weeks later I was in the Emporium meeting the author, Ralph Keyes,
Antioch alumnus ‘67 to tell him from my own first-year student perspective
that, no, my Antioch is not toxic, corrosive or anything like that. Quite
the opposite, actually; it’s one of the few places in the world where I
have found such kindness, respect, honesty and open-mindedness in people.
It is one of the places where I feel the safest.
A two-hour discussion ensued, here is, in a nutshell, how it went:
Jeanne: In your October 19th article you write: “Steve Lawry strikes me as
just what Antioch needs at this point in its history”, but also “If I were
an Antioch student today, I’d probably be lining up to sign a petition
denouncing his attempts to temper the atmosphere”. Isn’t there a
contradiction there?
Ralph: When I was a student, I was your age, and I think you have a
certain perspective at that age, a very strong perspective, particularly
if you come to Antioch; you want freedom; one of the main reasons you come
to Antioch is because of maximum freedom, and when the president says
“wait, there are these limits…”, if I were a student I would probably be
upset. But I’m not 18 years old, I’m 61 and in forty years time I’ve
learned that it’s not necessarily a good thing to have maximum freedom.
Jeanne: So you’re saying that we’re not capable yet of knowing what is
good for us?
Ralph: In a sense, yes. I don’t think I knew when I was your age. When you
come to college you come out of family where you have restrictions, high
school where you have restrictions. Then you come to Antioch and you’re
free: no more restrictions.
Jeanne: But some people choose to go to other colleges where there are
restrictions; students who come to Antioch tend to come here because they
value total freedom.
Ralph: Yes. But how many? You see, Antioch’s enrollment, as I understand
it is now just over 300. In order for Antioch to balance its budget it
needs probably three times that number. So I think the Antioch that is now
is not attractive enough to students to be sustainable. And believe me,
Antioch is very important to me.
Jeanne: And you think that our ‘toxic culture’ is the reason for our low
retention rate?
Ralph: I think it’s a factor.
Jeanne: How would you define ‘toxic culture’?
Ralph: I don’t have a lot of direct contact with the students, but I’m
astonished by some of the things I read in the Record. When people find it
so important to call people out: “I think your values are bad, so I’m
calling you out”, I think it gets to a point where it’s really negative.
There is a certain number of people who like that, who can survive in that
environment. But I think if Antioch wants to get a bigger enrollment, it
needs to have a culture in which the students don’t call each other out
all the time.
Jeanne: In my three months here, I’ve never witnessed a situation in which
we’ve been aggressive or judgmental to conservative people. I understand
that Antioch may not be for everyone. It’s a place where you’re going to
be challenged, but you’re challenged in diplomatic and respectful ways. I
find myself having discussions with people from both sides of the
political spectrum. But some people can’t take it because they want to be
in an environment where they don’t have to argue, debate and reconsider
their views all the time.
Ralph: Is that ok? Is Antioch a place that has room for people like that?
Jeanne: I don’t think so. If you come here you have to be able to
question everything that you believe in; I think it’s a good thing, it’s
educational.
Ralph: When I was a student, there was a slogan that was almost a cliché,
“reevaluate your basic assumptions in the light of new evidence”, which is
similar to what you’re saying. I felt that was genuine and I liked that;
we were willing to defend our views and to consider new evidence. But
reconsidering my views wouldn’t necessarily mean that I would end up on
the left. I might end up on the right, I might end up in the middle, I
might end up nowhere. It’s part of the reconsideration. In the political
environment today at Antioch, there’s the assumption that if you
reconsider your views you’ll end up further to the left; it’s not an open
reconsideration. I think of myself as left but I didn’t go to Antioch
because it was a ’left’ community, I went to Antioch because it was a
community of independent thinkers who create their own educational path.
When I was a student, the invitation to come to Antioch was “Do you want
to think for yourself?” and now it’s shifted to “Do you want to change the
world?” ; those are two different things. It concerns me that Antioch sees itself as a
‘left’ community; because it makes it difficult for students who don’t see
themselves as left to want to come here. That’s one reason we’re so small.
Jeanne: It’s more of a spontaneous situation than something planned;
‘left’ people tend to come to Antioch. Our honor code has the words
‘social justice’ in it. To me, it’s more of an issue of whether we accept
those whose views differ from ours and I think we do. Doesn’t every
college in the US have some kind of political orientation? Why couldn’t we
have a political identity and still bring new students in?
Ralph: Because you cannot pay your bills, among other things.
Jeanne: I don’t think our “toxic culture” is the reason for our low
retention rate; the first years I’ve talked to that are planning to
transfer have other motives: small student body, not being able to major
in the field they’re interested in, departments closing, outdated library
books. I haven’t heard many people saying “I’m transferring because I’m
feeling oppressed by Antioch’s culture”
Ralph: If I visited Antioch as it is now, I wouldn’t dream of sending my
child here, because it’s - at least on the surface- such a toxic
environment. When I say “Would my kid be safe here?”, I don’t just mean
in a physical way -would they overdose- but for example, would they be
pressured to smoke? I see a tremendous number of students smoking. And it
doesn’t look to me like an emotionally healthy environment, not one where
I’d feel comfortable.
Jeanne: What about the people who, like me, came to Antioch because it’s
radical?
Ralph: At the moment, someone is reaching into their pocket to pay for
your radical environment. It is not sustainable.
Jeanne: I think we’re all conscious that Antioch needs more students. No
one is denying that.
Ralph: But are you prepared to make the necessary sacrifices in order to
get more students? To change your culture and lifestyles to become a more
welcoming environment? Antioch has become a very ingrown place which is
not welcoming to those who don’t ‘belong’. That includes townspeople,
alumni and parents. This is not healthy.
Jeanne: But you’re saying that if someone is uncomfortable with our
‘lifestyles’ then it’s up to us to change our lifestyles, what we’re
saying is they have to change their vision of us.
Ralph: I’ve been forty years in the world since I’ve left Antioch and I’ve
learned how to be circumspect about what’s possible and what isn’t and I
think being circumspect in this case means understanding that most 18
year-olds will feel uncomfortable in a place like Antioch.
Jeanne: Are you saying that we should hide our identity to make us more
appealing parents and prospective students?
Ralph: I’m saying you should broaden your identity. What has happened
since Antioch has become such a small community is that you’ve become like
an “endangered species”. I don’t think you should flaunt everything you
believe in your newspaper, flyers, because some students are uncomfortable
with that kind of extreme standpoints. I think that would be good for the
community, good for the college, good for the students. And then some of
the new students would come and challenge you.
Jeanne: I didn’t come to Antioch because I wanted to be agreed with or I
didn’t want to be challenged; it’s a different type of challenge. Instead
of having to justify yourself all the time as in a conservative
environment where your core values and identity would be questioned, you
can start from the same basis. Instead of arguing about the ‘whys’, you
can focus your energy on the “hows” and grow in a creative -as opposed to
reactionary- direction to take action. Here I can argue with people on how
we should ratify the Kyoto Protocol, somewhere else I could waste time
arguing on whether we should ratify the Kyoto protocol.
Ralph: I understand what you’re saying and that to me is a drawback to
Antioch, that we don’t have more people saying “Why ratify it at all?”
Jeanne: Well, don’t we have the rest of the world to play that role?
Ralph: True, but you lose your sharpness when you don’t have to argue that
point anymore.
After two hours, Ralph Keyes had to go, but I had one last question for
him: “I really hope you have a better opinion of Antiochians now—is it the
case?” “Well, I certainly have a better opinion of you”, he answered. The
most disappointing compliment I ever got.
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