With excitement and a sense of purpose, I am delighted to announce that I will be joining Antioch University as its new President. The position is a unique one as it is coupled with the Executive Vice Presidency for Coalition for the Common Good. This joint appointment charts the next leg of my personal and professional journey, and I am eager to embark on this new chapter.
Why Antioch University? A Vision for the Future
Antioch University has long been a place where progressive education thrives, and it is a privilege to contribute to its mission of advancing social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. With Antioch’s history of providing innovative and inclusive education, I see this as an extraordinary opportunity to further this mission and expand the university’s positive impact on society.
My professional journey has always been shaped by a deep commitment to ensuring that education is not just a tool for individual success, but a platform for societal change. Through my work at institutions such as California Lutheran University, Hiram College, and California State University, Sacramento, I have witnessed firsthand how education can serve as a catalyst for progress, healing, and growth.
The Time is Now: Antioch will Meet and Define this Moment
What excites me most about my next move is its timing. I am joining Antioch University when its most defining and differentiating aims—the building of an informed and just democracy—are more important than ever. This is Antioch’s moment, and the University will not only meet it; it will define it. In defining these times, Antioch will double down on its commitment to having students participate in social justice programs, undertake community-based research, and participate in, rather than just read and talk about, democracy. As it continues to “make good” on these longtime commitments, Antioch serves as a constructive model for academic courage and concrete contribution. Rather than just “fight against” emerging policies, stances, and proposals, Antioch is poised to provide national leaders and elected officials with data-driven accounts of the impactful things that it—and other institutions of higher learning like it—are doing right now to improve our country and the world. As Antioch actualizes its mission in “winning victories for humanity” and showing how education works for democracy, it can showcase the concrete, irrefutable impact of our colleges and universities in making America great.
The Coalition for the Common Good: Changemakers and Collaborators
If all of the above isn’t exciting enough, Antioch has recently joined forces with Otterbein University in co-founding the Coalition for the Common Good, or the “CCG.” The CCG is the country’s first higher education system that brings together universities that share a mission of educating students not only to advance their careers but to create and maintain a common good. The common good most coveted by members of this coalition is a pluralistic democracy marked by social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. Along with the excitement of being president-elect of Antioch University, I am thrilled that I will soon be working alongside Dr. John Comerford, President of both Otterbein University and the CCG in developing and expanding the Coalition. The CCG is a viably innovative model for higher education collaboration and impact.
The Values that Make us Decent Humans and Good Leaders
As I embark on the next leg of my personal and professional journey, I am reminded of the many conversations and activities that I engaged in with the Reverends Colleen Windham-Hughes, Mark Holmerud, and Scott and Melissa Maxwell Dougherty at Cal Lutheran. With those wonderful colleagues, I endeavored to use five values—grace, generosity, inclusion, diversity, and service to neighbor—to guide the many actions and decisions we were called to make. There were times when I fell short in my embodiment of them. That set of values, however, remains my North Star, and I expect it will guide me as I move forward.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey.
Lori Varlotta
