Antioch College

I came to Antioch from California in 1967, attracted by the idea of living in different locations, trying different jobs, with the idea that the real world of work is often more educational that the world of the classroom. I was a good student in high school and Antioch offered me a scholarship. I took a variety of classes; anthropology, literature, French, economics, ceramics, astronomy, calculus...I was exploring the world. The courses weren't particular exciting. The classes were traditional; lecture, read the book, write a paper. One would think that Antioch would encourage more interaction, more expressiveness from students, but this wasn't the case. I think one of the most important aspects of a liberal education is to allow a young person to be outspoken, to lose their shyness, and this shyness is the result of 12 years of being told to sit in your chair and be quiet. But it wasn't going to happen at Antioch. The idea of liberalism at Antioch is to allow 24 hour open dorms and unlimited drugs. Some students never went to class, high on acid most of the time. My first coop (job off campus) was in New York. After a month, the school where I worked decided to lay off the two Antioch students because they could get student teachers from a local teachers college. Antioch did not nothing and I was swinging in the wind in New York. Luckily I picked up a job packing buttons for the hippie trade on St. Mark's Place to pay the rent. Back to school in the Spring. This was the year of great political turmoil in America. MLK was shot, then RFK. Some of us were arrested in Cincinatti protest Vietnam. But the University and it professors, despite the reputation of left wing school did nothing. Classes did not discuss these events. In August some of us went to Chicago for the convention. I was arrested and skipped town before the cops came in swinging clubs. Meanwhile, most students were back in Yellow Springs getting stoned. There were only spontaneous rallies by a local black militant group. Then, I got a letter from the financial aid office informing me that my scholarship was only for the first year. What? This was news to me. And that I would have to get loans to pay tuition and so on. Well, that did it for me.

1st Year Male -- Class 1971

Perceived Campus Safety: B, Individual Value: C-