A small
liberal arts college, located in
Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Early History
Founded in 1852 by the educator Horace Mann, the college now is most famous for its overwhelmingly liberal student body and its cooperative education program, which requires students to spend a large fraction of their education in various internship. Although the college was, in 1850, promised a modest endowment by the Christian Connection, a small struggling sect in Marion, NY, the promised money was never delivered. Thus the name, Antioch, which honors the city in which followers of Christ were first called Christians.
Antioch is not currently associated with a religious denomination, although in 1919, for a three month period, it was owned by the YMCA. Throughout its history, the college has periodically suffered from bouts of insolvency.
From the beginning, Antioch was coeducational. In 1855, the college hired Rebecca Pennell, who was the first professor to hold equal standing with her fellow male professors.
In 1858, the college graduated its first class of 15 students-- 12 men and 3 women. Half the class had transfered from Oberlin to protest unequal treatment of women.
In 1859, addressing the graduating class, Horace Mann charged his students to "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity". In the tradition of overblown oratory everywhere, this was shortly adopted as the college's motto.
Recent History
Since the 1950s, when Antioch resisted the Red Scare and Joseph McCarthy, Antioch has attracted progressives, hippies, and communists. This has contributed to an active drug culture. Many of the students smoke tobacco and marijuana, as well as a tradition of protest.
In the 1990s the college gained international notoriety when it instituted The Sexual Offense Policy, which contained the quaint notion that persons engaged in a sexual relationship should try to obtain consent before making a move.
Appearance
Like most wooded
college campuses, the grounds are home to a large number of
tame squirrels. Much of the campus is
architecturally undistiguished although the central administration building, known as the
Castle, is superficially similar to the
Smithsonian Castle.