I wrote the following in response to an editorial about Antioch College I found at http://spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=11749
also excerpts from this are posted on this site too http://rightreason.ektopos.com/archives … cta_1.html
While I submited this to both locations I don’t know if they will ever be posted in any public manner, though I hope the author’s at least read them. Since I spent a while writing it, here it is. Read it if you feel so moved.
Francis – Thank you for your post linking to your student’s work. I will be posting a response there but wanted to respond here too.
Katharine – Thank you for taking the time to post about Antioch College’s impending closure. It is indeed a noteworthy event when an institution as distinguished as Antioch makes such an extraordinary announcement. While students voting with their feet is indeed true to some degree as of late (more on this below), I’d argue the real problem is that Antioch College has had trouble marketing itself properly in the global higher education marketplace. As you made clear in your note above, it’s not a ‘normal’ place–it doesn’t fit into convenient labels and assumptions and thusly, for those that don’t take the time to look under the hood, it’s not what they think they want and look elsewhere. You claim “Perhaps students oppressed by the weight of too much liberty are shunning the hallowed halls of Antioch’s Yellow Springs, Ohio, campus and seeking more disciplined shores.” You’re right–Antioch isn’t for those who feel oppressed by liberty. There is indeed a great amount of freedom at Antioch but as the <a href=”http://www.antioch-college.edu/Student/ index.html”>Antioch College Honor Code</a> states, ‘<i>Freedom must be matched by responsibility</i>’. Not all college aged students are ready for the responsibilities Antioch demands of them, which should not be viewed as a problem.
However, I do honestly believe that if more people that are ready for a serious challenge knew what Antioch College was really like, they would be applying in droves. The question of why they aren’t is one that has constantly confused those of us who have attended, and has more to do with lack of investment in the Admissions department than anything However, I also want to respond to a few of the many assumptions in your entry.
First off, to imply that Antioch’s academic program set low standards or is easy is simply not true, in my experience. And from conversations with students since I graduated I know this is still the case. Antioch’s narrative evaluations say a lot more than a traditional letter grade. For example when I entered Antioch I was, much to my chagrin, assigned to an entry level writing class since my college essay was not up to their standards. This pissed me off to no end, so I, of course, entered the class with an attitude and basically told the professor off. Throughout the term, and via the large number of essays we had to write for the class, I found that the professor kept pointing out places where I, indeed, did make some fairly obvious errors in grammar and conclusions. I suspect if I had a letter grade for the class it would have been a B. However my narrative evaluation was harsh and said something along the lines of ‘Matthew entered this class protesting that is was beneath him, yet throughout the term his work was subpar and required revisions. While his work improved throughout the term, his attitude prevented him from reaching his full potential.’
Having that in my ‘transcript’ wasn’t exactly fun, and as all of my class evaluations went to my potential co-op employers along with my résumé, I’d have preferred the “B.”
Throughout my time at Antioch, I found classes very challenging and I know others did too. There aren’t big lecture hall courses where students are anonymous to the faculty, or are taught by teaching assistants. Antioch is a small college, with very small classes and your teachers know you by name. Professors know you, and thus know how to challenge you. My computer science professor realized early on that I already had some programming experience, so while he waived many of the basic programming exercises, he gave me bigger challenges and puzzles. For example, one term everyone else in the class had to write a program to emulate a calculator while I had to write an algorithm to make the best use of 2 elevators in a 20 story building so that the passengers had to wait the shortest period of time.
No one was allowed to just ‘cruise’ in their classes. You state ‘We work the hardest for those that ask the most of us’ and I can state emphatically that I was asked a great deal by the faculty, students and even the staff of Antioch College and I know that current students are challenged a great deal.
You mock the above self-designed majors without finding out more about them and what they actually required. Having a self-designed major is not something done casually, and requires a great deal of work in conjunction with your academic advisor to create a major that has a strong grounding in your field of study. Every student is required to create a ‘Senior Project’ which is heavily reviewed and challenged by not only your academic advisor but others in the department, and is often comparable to a Master’s thesis. I was a Computer Science major and had to ‘defend’ my senior project in front of the entire science faculty, as well as faculty from other departments, not to mention my peers, who often asked the most challenging questions. I’ve spoken with others who went on to get advanced degrees at other institutions who have told me that writing a thesis and defending it was a piece of cake compared to Antioch’s senior project.
I also think you are confusing Antioch’s academic rigor with the campus politics which again, are hard to label and put in a convenient box. Was/is the atmosphere “politically correct” at Antioch? Depending on your definition of the term, it may have been, but it was not without constant questioning of assumptions on all parts. Students are constantly challenged to question their assumptions. Certainly I, as the above described arrogant 18 year old white suburban bred student hitting the campus in fall 1987, was made to question a whole gamut of my ‘liberal’ assumptions. Older students would challenge me on my beliefs and have me reconsider why I believed them. The motto of ‘Talk the Talk & Walk the Walk’ was often cited, requiring that if I really believed so much in an issue that I should go out and be active to address that in the larger society.
You also question some of the contents of the student published ‘survival guide’ that you found on the college’s website. Is it really so surprising that there are graphic instructions for safe sex in a college student guide? If you look at websites of colleges across the world, it’s clear that providing information about safe sex is a common theme. I, for one, am happy that this information is available and am also glad it’s available online for any rebel students at Baylor University who might someday be curious how one puts on a condom and prevent an unwanted pregnancy or STD.
Regarding the section that gives advice about attending protests, I see that similar to the above section; some students choose to have sex, we help them help safe sex. Some students choose to protest, we help them have safe protests.
You selectively quote portions of the guide’s coverage of the student created Sexual Offense Prevention Policy. While it certainly lends itself to humorous skits, such as the one done by Saturday Night Live in early 1990’s, it also makes it quite clear that ‘No means no!’ and that those involved in sexual relations must communicate clearly with each other at all times. I can point you to a number of alumni who helped author this policy who can share their own and others’ experiences where assumptions and poor communication led to emotionally and physically damaging consequences. Many other universities have since implemented similar policies to this. In fact, even last year, there was a <a href=”http://www.baylor.edu/ lariat/news.php?action=story&story=39354″>seminar</a> at your school addressing the subject of “Date Rape.” I’m sure if you asked the person presenting and some of those attending that seminar, you’d find they don’t find this policy as humorous as you do.
Finally, you make the comment that “Students looking to acquire marketable skills go elsewhere.” The assumption that Antioch produces those without marketable skills is almost laughable by those of us who attended. Did you miss the section of the website that covers our <a href=”http://www.antioch-college.edu/Co-op/”>co- operative education</a> program–a program required by the curriculum? You are currently an editorial intern, and are gaining real world experience from working at a professional publication. I am assuming you now understand how beneficial this is, and how it expands your perspective and complements your classroom studies. For over 80 years, Antioch College has required these type of experiences for all its students in a variety of fields. Not all students are ready for the real world experience that an internship requires. However, those of us who ‘walked through the fire’ by doing this a number of times found ourselves with marketable skills far beyond those of our peers at other institutions.
As you can imagine, in light of the recent news of the college’s impending closure, the college reunion in late June drew a large number of alumni back to campus, including myself. Antioch College is a wonderful place worth saving and there are a large number of alumni who are working hard to do just that. You can see us at work at <a href=”http://antiochians.org/”>Antiochians.org</a>. Please stop by and chat and help us figure out how we can get those additional students. I know you’re just about done at Baylor but it’s probably not too late to transfer and ‘walk the walk’ with us Antiochians.
Even if the college does close in June, this year at Antioch promises to be amazing. Even if you disagree with some of the politics on campus, you’ll be a better journalist after this since you’ll ‘know the enemy’, or, I suspect more likely, realize that maybe it’s too easy to make assumptions about people and places based on what you read on a website, and that true journalism requires more effort and research.
-Matthew Baya 1992 Antioch College, BS Computer Science & Communications