Antioch New England Graduate School is changing its name to Antioch University New England effective July 1, 2006. The new name more clearly reflects the long-standing reality that the Keene, New Hampshire graduate school campus is part of the five-campus nationwide Antioch University.
Acting Antioch New England president Neal King explains that the clarification is important at this point in time. “We are part of a unique university system that offers multiple levels of undergraduate and graduate study at campuses in southern California; Seattle, Washington; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and New Hampshire. Our new name more clearly ties us to the Antioch University system, where our students benefit from access to educational resources, academic programming, geographically compelling locations, and superb faculty.”
Antioch University was created in 1978 by the Board of Trustees of the now 150-year-old undergraduate liberal arts college, Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Trustee John G. Merselis, Jr., M.D., also a ’96 graduate of Antioch New England’s Department of Organization & Management, says, “The Keene, New Hampshire campus has been part of the Antioch University constellation for years. In fact, as the first graduate school in the University system, the Antioch New England campus was founded in the mid-1960s, offering a graduate degree in education to teachers living and teaching in rural New Hampshire and Vermont.”
Over the years, the Keene, New Hampshire campus expanded its graduate programming to include two dozen master’s, doctoral, and certificate programs in education, environmental studies, psychology, and management. And on a national level, other Antioch University campuses offer master’s and doctoral programs in additional disciplines, including a unique doctoral program in leadership that is system-wide. The Antioch University campuses are Antioch University McGregor, in Yellow Springs, Ohio; Antioch University Los Angeles, California; Antioch University Santa Barbara, California; Antioch University Seattle, Washington; and Antioch University New England, Keene, New Hampshire.
The mission of the entire Antioch University system is founded on principles of rigorous liberal arts education, innovative experiential learning, and socially engaged citizenship. The multiple campuses of the University nurture in their students the knowledge, skills, and habits of reflection to excel as lifelong learners, democratic leaders, and global citizens who live lives of meaning and purpose, reinforcing Antioch New England’s belief and tag line that students attend “Because the world needs you now.”
James Craiglow, past president of the Keene, New Hampshire campus, says the belief in this shared mission unifies all the Antioch University campuses. “The new name reflects this important commonality. This is the essence of what we are at Antioch University and we are stronger for it. At Antioch University, we wear our values externally.” With the more uniform name, students know they are studying in a university system that includes campuses across the country where like-minded students are at work addressing issues of social justice in their local and global communities.
Antioch University New England is celebrating its name change with a series of talks and performances in the Monadnock Region. The series kicks off with a panel discussion to follow Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, at the Colonial Theatre in Keene on Thursday, July 13. The talk will focus on the local effects of climate change on our landscape, climate, and our selves. Please visit https://www.antioch.edu/new-england/ for more information.
