Summer 2025

Jul 11, 2025

ANTIOCHIAN PODCAST

Episode 2: The Foundry Theater’s Chris Westhoff

The director talks with Editor Mark Swanholm about what brought him to Antioch, memorable shows of the last season, an “awesome booking” coming in September, his dream of restoring the amphitheater, and engaging with alumni.

Click here to listen and read the transcript.

FEATURES

Inspiring Moments at Antioch's Commencement

Student speaker Lee Wade (above) urged graduating classmates, "Let us be the people who listen, who uplift, who create spaces where others feel seen and valued." Read about the day's highlights and career aspirations of the newest alumni, and watch the program.

Two Eras, Two Challenges to Graduates

Martin Luther King, Jr., Antioch's 1965 commencement speaker, challenged the graduating class “to remove poverty from the face of the earth. . . . There is nothing more dangerous" than a society in which a large segment "feel they have no stake in it – who feel they have nothing to lose,” and to find an alternative to war if mankind is to survive. This year's speaker, William Barbour II, despaired of "the appalling silence and indifference" as progress made in King's era is undone. Today's injustices demand resistance, he said. Read a reflection by Penny Storm '65.

Indo-Pacific Overture

Richard Kraince, associate professor of cooperative education, spent last winter as a Fulbright Fellow in Southeast Asia, learning about how universities practice conservation and protect natural wonders from climate change. He sees opportunities for Antiochians to explore. Read more.

Reunion Exhibition at the Herndon Gallery

This year’s Reunion celebrates the theme Antioch & the Arts, expansively defined to include visual art, music, performance, media, literature, and architecture. A central highlight will be the Herndon Gallery’s exhibition, “Generations of Antioch Artists: Alumni and Faculty Past and Present,” showcasing artwork by alumni, current faculty, and former faculty. Viewers will encounter visions shaped by science, civic discourse, and global aesthetics—hallmarks of Antioch’s legacy. Learn more.

Antioch & Job Corps: Building Pathways Together

This summer, Antioch welcomed 11 displaced students from Job Corps, the federal training program begun in 1964 and now under threat of closure. All sectors of the community came together to meet the challenge. A June fundraising effort among alumni secured critical support for housing, meals, and academic resources. Another 3 to 7 students are expected in the fall. Read more.

The Co-op that Keeps on Giving

Six decades after a summer cataloguing pottery shards from an Arizona dig, Anna Le Blanc '64 finds satisfaction researching the life and work of anthropologist Paul Martin. Read her story.

COLUMNS

Songs from the Stacks

1921 Commencement: On the Cusp of Bold Change

Antioch graduated all of five students in June 1921. Even so, Commencement spanned four days of events, including baccalaureate services for the college and the Antioch-run high school and annual meetings of the Trustees, who approved the installation of running water on campus, and of two student literary societies, the Star and Union, both of which would soon die out, plus the ceremony itself. Not mentioned on the packed agenda was what distinguished that year’s Commencement Week. It marked the transition from the college of Horace Mann's vision--by then in desperate straits--to the "Antioch Plan," a work-study model introduced by a new president, Arthur Morgan. Read Archivist Scott Sanders's account.

From the Alumni Association's Gavel

Welcoming Graduates to the Alumni Community

What does it mean to be an alum of Antioch College, to somehow bear Antiochian as a part of your biography or identity, and to be in community with fellow alums? Not all of my Antioch is your Antioch and vice versa. . . .

Read the address to this year's graduates by Alumni Association President Coco Gagnet '18.

Director's Diary

Last Call to Attend the Reunion

This year's theme: Antioch and the Arts. If you are a visual artist, musician, performer, or create art in any media, join us for 2025 Reunion and share your creative energy with your fellow Antiochians! Read the message from Shannon McCarville, director of Alumni Relations and Communications.