Antioch University Midwest and Antioch University Online congratulate the graduating class of 2019! This year we had the honor of watching 68 students from five-degree programs walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. Provost and CEO, Dr. Marian Glancy gave encouraging words to our students, and our audience, along with remarks from our Chancellor William Groves and Board of Governors speaker, Dr. Gene Tempel.
The audience was thrilled to hear from our elected student speakers: Sharon Miller, BA (AUM), Coleen Goodson, BA (AUO), Toniya Sunder Singh, MBA (AUM), and Teri Bowshier, Education Programs (AUM). Each student shared a part of their journey, including honoring family who supported their education and celebrating the joy of learning and achieving as an Antiochian adult learner.
Following our student speakers, one of our graduates from BA in Human Services Administration honored us with a song. Sandra Rutledge Kitwana is a nationally known jazz vocalist who has performed in a variety of off-Broadway musical productions, and been the opening act for, and performed with, national acts such as Ray Charles, Chuck Loeb, Kim Waters, Peabo Bryson, The Ohio Players, and Fats Domino. The ceremony ended with the awarding of degrees and further honoring our graduates at a reception following the event.
Antioch University has named Dr. Terry Ratcliff Executive Dean for Antioch University Online starting March 25. He brings extensive experience in online and distance education having served in a variety of roles in higher education over the past 30 years including assistant dean of students, director of enrollment, dean of adult and continuing education, director of online learning, and chief academic officer. Dr. Ratcliff has contributed to higher education as a consultant to colleges and universities to improve student retention, online teaching and learning, and faculty development. He will serve on the University Leadership Council, the University Academic Council, and the Council of Chief Academic Officers. He is based at Antioch University Seattle while serving the entire University.
Working in a variety of institutional settings, Dr. Ratcliff has a depth of experience in the development and implementation of online courses and programs and the increased use of technology in teaching and learning. At Whitworth University, he was tasked with developing the first online courses for traditional students. As Executive Director of Distance and Extended Education at the University of Idaho, he was responsible for the development of a strategic plan for online learning. At Pacific Oaks College, he supervised the Assistant Dean for Academic Technology and Online Learning. In collaboration with the other assistant deans, they strengthened the instructional design process and developed a training and support program for online adjuncts.
An online instructor since 1998, he has facilitated courses on a variety of learning platforms. Dr. Ratcliff has Quality Matters certification as both Higher Education Peer Reviewer and Higher Education QM Coordinator.
Active in the Association for Continuing Higher Education, he has served in volunteer and elected roles at the regional and national level. He completed an elected term as a Director at Large on the organization’s board of directors in 2016. Dr. Ratcliff is also active in higher education accreditation, serving as a volunteer site visitor for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Dr. Ratcliff earned his EdD in higher education from the University of California-Berkeley, a master’s degree in adult and higher education from Arizona State University, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Idaho.
Earning your bachelor’s degree should be affordable and empowering. That’s why Antioch University Online is with our students every step of the way. From the first time you talk to an admissions counselor to your graduation day and beyond, we’re dedicated to understanding your personal situation and career goals.
And no one is more dedicated to you than our expert faculty members. Below, you’ll find out what they want you to know as you begin your first term upon returning to college.
We Understand You Have a Life
Our students have jobs, families, lives outside of school, and we understand that. Though our courses are as rigorous as those you’ll find at any on-campus program, we know that our students need real flexibility, and our classes offer that. Although you must finish all work for a class by the end of the term, you have the flexibility to study at your own pace, on whatever schedule works best for you and your busy life.
We Want You to Succeed
We know you have a plan for your future, and we’re here to help you build on your experience and reach your goals. All AU Online students have access to a variety of support services, from our virtual writing center to online library services and 24/7 technical assistance. And of course, your professors are readily available to help answer questions about course content and offer advice for the future.
All of our programs will help you excel in your career, but if you want a truly customized program with deep faculty involvement, you should learn more about our individualized studies program. We’ll work closely with you to identify opportunities to make a difference in your community or workplace and then build a curriculum to help you get there.
Additionally, at Antioch, we don’t give out letter or numerical grades. Instead, we provide feedback with a narrative assessment. We believe this accommodates people with different learning styles and better prepares you for a career in professional settings where success is often measured by presentations and written communication. AU Online coursework values demonstrated learning over test scores, further preparing you for a successful career ahead.
We Value Your Experience
Different life experiences and professional accomplishments are what make each of us unique, and this is especially true for our students, who come from a diverse array of locations and backgrounds. We respect where you are coming from and we value what you’ve already accomplished in your life. Because of this, Antioch University offers both transfer credits and credits for life and work experience. Your experience is what makes you who you are, and we invite you to bring that experience into the classroom and share your knowledge with all of us, even as you work to gain knowledge and propel your career.
Please see the following message from Antioch University’s Chancellor Groves:
Dear Colleagues:
Over the past couple of years, there have been a number of times when I felt it imperative that Antioch University speak to its values in the face of actions being taken by our government. This is one of those occasions. The removal of migrant infants and children from their parents and the internment of children and babies separated from their mothers and fathers is outrageous, unAmerican, and morally unconscionable. We’ve all seen the images of crying babies and children in cages and fenced enclosures as their parents were being processed by ICE officers. There are no laws that require this inhumane treatment.
The family separations began earlier this year after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new “zero tolerance” policy of referring all border crossings for federal criminal prosecution, which leads to children being separated as their parents are sent to jail to await trial. Heretofore, children and parents awaiting trial were kept together in detention centers. Most of them face misdemeanor “unlawful entry” charges for which no jail time would typically be imposed. Some of them are lawfully applying for asylum and may never be prosecuted as “illegal aliens.” Yet, the children are now quite literally incarcerated while their parents are separately detained awaiting an immigration hearing or a trial that could take months.
There are now thousands of children in internment camps and other facilities. Many of them have been transported by commercial airlines to locations as far away as NYC while their parents await their hearings or trials in Texas. Some of them have now been separated from their parents for over a month at an age when maternal and paternal nurturing is crucial to their healthy development. While the policy of separation was discontinued by Executive Order yesterday, there are no plans to release and reunite the approximately 11,000 children already in custody.
Yesterday, several commercial airlines, including American Airlines, and United Airlines, announced that they were family-centered companies who would not be complicit in the government’s actions to separate children from their families. They both communicated with the federal government that they were not to be engaged to transport children who are being relocated by ICE. Several days ago, thousands of College and University professors sent an open letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security arguing that the Family Separation Policy was “nothing less than government-sponsored child abuse.”
Antioch University is a historically progressive institution in pursuit of a better world. We pride ourselves in continually being on the right side of history for the past 166 years. We now STAND with the companies, institutions, and individuals who stand up against this policy. As the proud Chancellor of Antioch, and as a horrified American citizen, I encourage all of us to make our voices heard and to STAND up for the values we share. Here are just a few of the possible ways to help.
Don’t feel helpless. Take action.
1. Donate Directly to the Kids
Baby2Baby and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) set up a baby registry at Target to send bundles of essentials like diapers, wipes, shampoo and soap directly to immigrant children.
But most charities say the best way to help is through financial donations, not product donations. Well-vetted groups that provide humanitarian aid to migrants include Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an organization with two shelters along the border of the Sonoran Desert, and Border Angels, a volunteer coalition that provides water, free legal help, and emergency services.
2. Support the Lawyers Fighting for Them
In just one Facebook campaign, more than $15 million has been raised for The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), the largest immigration services legal nonprofit in Texas. By donating to RAICES, you support every aspect of legal aid for immigrant families. The group aims to locate and reunite every family and child affected by this policy and to provide legal services, including posting bail money, to every detained immigrant waiting for trial. Most of these trials are for misdemeanor “unlawful entry” charges. They also aim to pay off immigration bonds to free asylum seekers from ICE custody, letting them reunite with their children. In addition to the Facebook initiative, you can also donate directly through their website.
If you want to donate your time, help interview migrants at the border. If you live in a border area, have legal or paralegal experience, and speak Spanish, Mam, Q’eqchi’ or K’iche’, sign up to volunteer with the Texas Civil Rights Project. The Legal Aid Justice Center also looks for volunteers who live in the Virginia area and can help with translation or administrative tasks.
3. Donate to Several Places at Once
ActBlue splits your donations between 12 different groups. The nonprofit fundraising platform for liberal causes has set up a page that benefits Al Otro Lado, The Florence Project, Neta, Innovation Law Lab, Fuerza Del Valle, The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, We Belong Together, United We Dream, The Women’s Refugee Commission, The ACLU, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, Human Rights First, and La Union de Pueblo Entero. You can donate any amount, and split it however you want between the groups. The campaign has raised more than $1.6 million so far.
4. Call Your Senator and Say This Exactly
There are currently several bills being proposed to fight back against child separation at the border. The ACLU urges people to call their senators to advocate against the Trump administration’s current policies. You can check out their website and fill out a form, and the ACLU will connect you to make the call. They’ll get you in touch with a congressional staffer, and then they recommend you say, “Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and my zip code is [YOUR ZIP]. I’m urging the Senator to denounce Trump’s family separation policy and use all of Congress’ authority to stop it.”
5. Participate In a Protest
On June 30, various advocacy groups are organizing protests across the country against child separation. The main Families Belong Together rally will take place in Washington, but there are other demonstrations happening in cities across the U.S. that day. Check out where and when to protest at MoveOn.org.
As Antiochians, we STAND for social, economic and environmental justice. I invite you to STAND with us.
William R. Groves. J.D.
Chancellor
Antioch University
900 Dayton Street Yellow Springs, OH 45387-1623
Chancellor (a) antioch.edu
Groves’ Vision Includes Significant Growth, Innovation, and Inclusion
William R. Groves, JD, who has served as Interim Chancellor of Antioch University since April 2016, has been named to the position on a permanent basis. As Chancellor, Groves is President and CEO of the University. Groves was formally appointed as the Chancellor during the Antioch Board of Governors quarterly meeting held in Keene, New Hampshire on October 27 and 28, 2017.
Antioch University is a national, non-profit university which focuses on adult learners and undergraduate and graduate-level programs including five doctoral programs. With approximately 4,000 students, Antioch University is composed of five campuses: Antioch University New England; Antioch University Midwest; Antioch University Los Angeles; Antioch University Santa Barbara; and Antioch University Seattle. In addition, it operates two distance learning divisions: Antioch University Online, and the University’s Graduate School of Leadership & Change. Collectively, they make up one Antioch University with progressive values and a mission to educate the next generation of those determined to win victories for humanity.
“I look forward to leading Antioch University toward a future of real and significant growth in a way that honors our social justice mission,” said Groves. “I am working with the Antioch community to grow our enrollment while honoring our 165-year history of educational innovation, and a commitment to educational access, affordability, and quality.”
No stranger to Antioch University, Chancellor Groves began at the institution in 2010 when he was hired to form Antioch’s first Office of General Counsel. Prior, he was a Managing Partner in the Springfield, Ohio, law firm of Martin, Browne, Hull & Harper, PLL, where he began his career in 1979. Throughout his 30-year career with the firm, Groves provided legal services to Antioch University and numerous local businesses, municipalities, non-profit organizations, universities and public school districts.
“The Board has a high level of confidence in Chancellor Groves and values his leadership and commitment to Antioch,” said Board of Governors Chair Charlotte Roberts. “We look forward to working collectively on his vision for growth and innovation that will secure our long-term future and mission.”
Groves received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with Honors in Government from Ohio University and his Juris Doctor from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Ohio State Bar Association. He has also served as an officer and board member of numerous charitable and non-profit organizations. Groves is a former President of the United Way of Clark County (OH); former President of Planned Parenthood of West Central Ohio; and a member of the boards of the Springfield Symphony, Springfield Family YMCA, Clark State (OH) Community College Foundation, and the Rocking Horse Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) providing medical care to indigent children and adults in Clark County, Ohio.
“We are grateful for Chancellor Groves’ extraordinary efforts in achieving improved structures, strategies, and processes throughout the university during his time as Interim Chancellor,” said Board Vice Chair Paul Mutty. “He is deeply experienced at making tough decisions and managing people in a collaborative and transparent manner.”
“It is an important and exciting new era for Antioch University,” added Roberts.
About Antioch University
Since its founding in 1852, Antioch University has stayed at the forefront of higher education innovation, academic excellence, social progressivism and social justice. Among its distinguished alumni are noted civil rights leaders, Coretta Scott King and Eleanor Holmes Norton as well as two Nobel Laureates: Mario Capecchi (B.S. 1961), co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; and José Manuel Ramos-Horta (M.A., Peace Studies, 1984), co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, and later President of East Timor (2007-2012).
Inspired by the work of its first President, pioneering educator Horace Mann, Antioch University provides learner-centered education to empower students with the knowledge and skills to lead meaningful lives and to advance social, economic, and environmental justice. With campuses in Keene, New Hampshire; Los Angeles; Santa Barbara; Seattle; and Yellow Springs, Ohio, Antioch University is a bold and enduring source of innovation in higher education. Antioch University also includes a Graduate School of Leadership and Change and Antioch Online. The University is a private, nonprofit, 501(c)3 institution and continuously accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1927.
Having witnessed the horrific events of last weekend by torch-carrying white nationalists at the University of Virginia and in the city of Charlottesville, VA, it’s appropriate that citizens, institutions, and communities condemn and rebuke the hate-based, racist rhetoric of extremists groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi organizations, and the violent actions of their followers. Another innocent person has been senselessly murdered as she marched in support of civil rights and equality. Heather Heyer is the latest victim of a long history of domestic terrorism, violence, and murder in this nation by white supremacists.
It is often the case that such Klan events target America’s colleges and universities. They are the melting pots of America and the bastions of democracy and equality. Antioch was the focus of a 2004 Klan march in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Our reputation as champions of racial equality is well known. In 1856, Antioch became one of the first universities in America to admit African-American students to learn side-by-side with white students. In pre-civil war America, this was nothing less than revolutionary. It would be over 100 years before federal laws would require the same result.
We have been fierce advocates for racial, ethnic, and gender equality and social justice since our inception 165 years ago. And for that reason, we have been a target of white nationalist groups.
It’s important, therefore, that we speak to our values and confront evil when we see it.
We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the ideology and actions advocated and perpetrated by white nationalists, white Supremacists, and neo-Nazi organizations and individuals that resulted in the tragedy in Charlottesville this past weekend.
We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the hate-filled racist ideology and violent actions that are part of our historical legacy as a nation, part of the fabric of our current culture, and which are extending their reach with profoundly disturbing vigor.
We call upon our President and national leaders to unequivocally condemn these movements of bigotry and intolerance and to strongly and unequivocally renounce any support from the alt-right movement, to specifically condemn and rebuke the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke, and other white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazi organizations, and advise them that their organizations and members will receive no support or sanctuary from this administration and that their criminal actions and domestic terrorism will result in swift and harsh federal prosecution.
We call upon our President to purge from the White House any and all White House advisors and staff currently or formerly associated with the white nationalist or white supremacist movement, including Steve Bannon, co-founder of the alt-right, white nationalist website, Breitbart News; Steve Miller, a follower and mentee of white supremacist Richard Spencer; and Sebastian Gorka, who has extensive ties to anti-Semitic hate groups such as Vitez Order. The American people have a right to know that no such individuals are on the public payroll, or that they have the ear of the President in developing public policy.
We call upon the President to listen to the advice within his own political party to unequivocally retract his rhetoric normalizing the Ku Klux Klan or other white nationalists, white supremacists, or neo-Nazi organizations, as well as the rhetoric excusing the actions of their members. A young woman has been brutally murdered by a white supremacist thug. Antioch University stands against nationalism and white supremacy.
Dear Antioch Community:
As you know, on Friday, January 27, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that bars all foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for 90 days, and indefinitely halts immigration of all refugees fleeing the brutal civil war in Syria. It also gives Christians fleeing persecution priority over Muslims, inserting a religious test into our refugee program decisions.
Antioch University has a number of students who are from the countries identified in the Executive Order. Those countries include Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. While the order contains a few exceptions for those traveling on diplomatic visas, the list of exceptions does not include those traveling on temporary visas such as student H-1B visas or F-1 and J-1 visas. In fact, even travelers with permanent resident status (green cards) were detained at airports over the past weekend, and the order may apply to those with dual citizenship (citizenship in a listed country and another non-US country).
At least four federal courts have issued temporary injunctions enjoining enforcement of much of the Executive Order. The Department of Homeland Security, for example, was stopped from deporting travelers holding green cards or proper visas. Nonetheless, this sudden change in immigration policy has substantially disrupted operations for many American universities and foreign travelers. As a result, we offer the following specific guidance:
1. Students, scholars, faculty and others who might be affected by the order are strongly advised to defer any travel plans outside of the United States until there is further clarity of the impact of the order; this includes travel by car to neighboring countries such as Canada or Mexico.
2. If you must travel, we urge you to first consult with legal counsel. If you have family who were intending to travel to the United States to visit, they will need similar legal advice from an immigration lawyer. The fact that you have lawfully been issued a U.S. visa, or even a green card, may not be sufficient to ensure entry or re-entry into the United States.
3. I have asked our University Counsel, Rebecca Todd, to prepare a list of immigration lawyers in each of our communities. Some may be among the hundreds of lawyers that volunteered to provide pro-bono services to stranded travelers over the weekend. Please contact our Office of University Counsel at 603-283-2436 for this contact information.
I would like to emphasize that Antioch University supports all of our students, faculty, and employees who are foreign nationals. The University has a long history of being a leader in fostering a diverse and rich educational environment. Even prior to the Civil War, Antioch was one of the first American colleges to enroll African-American students to learn side-by-side with white students. It was one of the first colleges to employ female faculty at the same rank and salary as male counterparts. And we have admitted international students throughout our history. Our educational mission has always been focused on fostering social, economic and environmental justice and for protecting and promoting the human rights of all people, regardless of race, religion, gender, color, ancestry, national origin or other immutable characteristics. It was not chance or stroke of serendipity that led Coretta Scott King to Antioch. It was Antioch’s reputation as champions for human rights that caught her attention.
