19 June 2008 Thursday

Antiochians - An inclination toward hope

Reunion’s this weekend.
C says she get a bit weepy over this editorial.. my heart swells and eyes well up every time I glance at it.

Editorial

An inclination toward hope

Welcome, Antioch College alumni. It’s good to have you back in the village.
Over the past year, you’ve been, to many of us, models of courage, persistence and integrity. You’ve shown us how to think big ? very big. You inspire us with how much you want to save your college and how you don’t take no for an answer. Your deep love for Antioch College has helped us love it more. In an age of cynicism, you unabashedly care; in a climate of secrecy, you engage with honesty and directness. You have shown that the best case for saving Antioch College is that Antioch creates people like you.

After a year of round-the-clock effort and ultimate heartbreak, you are now being asked to try once again. This means much more work, more fundraising, more possibilities for frustration. But it’s not surprising that most of you, after weighing the options, have decided to give this new effort your all. You haven’t done so out of ignorance, or innocence. Rather, it seems that as Antiochians you carry inside you an inclination toward hope, a willingness to believe that impossible things just might work. It’s a wonderful way to see the world, and the best way -? perhaps the only way ? to get things done.

You are right to try once again. If anything has become more clear this past year from the Herculean efforts of alumni, faculty, staff, students and villagers, it’s that Antioch College deserves to be saved. The world needs more people like you.

—Diane Chiddister

from the Yellow Springs News, June 19, 2008