Sad News?

When heard of this today, my initial reaction was sadness. It's almost always a sad day when an educational institution dies. Almost.

It seems that Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, will be closing its doors on 1 July 2008. It is uncertain whether it will re-open, though --- as one might expect --- its administration is putting on a brave face.

According to the press release issued by the college:

Over the past several years, Antioch College has experienced a continuing decline in its student enrollment. Given its small endowment and heavy dependence on tuition revenue, this low enrollment has threatened the College’s survival. Efforts to balance the College’s budget over the years through faculty and staff reductions, programmatic changes and deferred maintenance of the physical plant have eroded the confidence students and parents have in the College’s academic program. After careful analysis the Board determined that the College’s resources are inadequate to continue providing a quality education for its students beyond July 1, 2008.

The College’s low enrollment and lack of adequate funding led to the decision to suspend operations and declare financial exigency as required by the faculty personnel policy.

Now, this is a situation with which every College has struggled. Just last year, trustees of the new Benedict Arnold Coll... er, Randolph College, formerly Randolph-Macon Women's College, decided to go co-ed, much to the chagrin of alumnae and other admirers. Happily, my alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College, has enjoyed a growing enrollment, and may be in the strongest position of its 231-year history.

Of course, what Antioch's administrators fail to mention is perhaps the real reason, identified in this week's Opinion Journal: "famous for sundry curious radicalisms like requiring verbal consent before two students may kiss --- was designed to accommodate 2,700 students, but will soon close its doors indefinitely. Its enrollment, now around 300, is no longer sustainable."

One hopes that the far Left would get the message.

But I doubt it.

H/T to the Friar.

What? Benedict Arnold College Didn't "Sing"?

I had occasion a while back to write about the controversy over the decision of Randolph-Macon Women's College to go co-ed. My own alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College (how about those two good-looking boys with the tiger on the alumni page?) had a debate about ten years ago over co-education, and decided to remain affirmatively, proudly, all-male. It has thrived since, and right now may be stronger than ever.

Women lost the debate at RMWC, and I have just learned that the school will change its name to Randolph College beginning on 1 July 2007.

RIP, Randie Mac.

My Two Favorite College Teams Undefeated!

With a majority of their respective seasons past, my two favorite college football teams --- Hampden-Sydney (the alma mater) and Penn State (I'm from Pennsylvania, and my grandparents were season ticketholders) --- are both ranked, and both undefeated.

Hampden-Sydney, No. 20 in Division III, and No. 1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), prevailed over the coeducational experiment in Lexington, AKA Washington & Leigh ... er, "Lee" (Robert E. Lee V, H-SC '86, was a classmate of mine) by a score of 39-29, while No. 3 Penn State broke a 12-game losing streak against Michigan by rolling to a 46-17 victory, allowing no opposing scoring after the first half, yesterday.

Hampden-Sydney may well be on their way to a second consecutive appearance in the Division III playoffs, since they can do no worse than 4-2 in the conference, with home games against Catholic (5-1 overall; 1-1 ODAC), the alma mater of H-SC Head Coach Marty Favret, next week and The Game against arch-rival Randolph-Macon (2-4 overall; 1-1 ODAC) on 15 November. A non-conference game against undefeated Huntington College (Montgomery, Alabama) is scheduled for 8 November.

And if Penn State can prevail against No. 12 Ohio State in Columbus next week, they will certainly be in the hunt for the National Championship.

Should be an interesting month in college football.

Good Year In Division III Football

Well, how about that!

Not only did Hampden-Sydney College complete a perfect season to capture the Old Dominion Athletic Conference crown, with a 34-27 victory over arch-rival Randolph-Macon College, but my mother's alma mater, Susquehanna University, also made the playoffs!

Next week, Hampden-Sydney hosts its first playoff game since 1977, when the Tigers meet the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University. The two teams last met in the 2007 opener, at Hampden-Sydney, when the Blue Jays prevailed in a nail-biter by a score of 17-16 on a blocked field goal on the final play of the game. That year marked H-SC's last appearance in the playoffs, when they lost in the first round at Wesley College.

Noon. Saturday. Death Valley. The Youngs will be there to cheer on the Tigers!

Hampden-Sydney Looks Unbeatable for ODAC Championship...

and a playoff bid.

It does my heart good to note the success of the alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College, in football this season. With eight victories, and no losses, the team finally broke into the d3football.com Top 25 this week (No. 25). It has appeared in the American Football Coaches' Association Top 25 poll for the last two weeks, currently standing at No. 20.

The team has shown a lot of character in achieving these milestone. In Week 2, a game attended by the Youngs, the Tigers were down by two touchdowns at half-time, against Gettysburg (I found myself rooting against the Lutherans), but rallied to win by a field goal in overtime (with an amazing two field goal blocks by a single special teams player). This week, the Tigers were down by a touchdown at half-time against Catholic at Homecoming (Head Coach Marty Favret's alma mater --- '84 --- his twenty-fifth reunion year), but won the game by 21-7.

Rival Randolph-Macon, however, is 5-2, and 3-0 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), whose winner receives an automatic bid to the Division III playoffs. R-MC's season is conference-heavy, with three conference games in the last three weeks of the season: Guilford; Bridgewater; and Hampden-Sydney, in The Game, the oldest rivalry in the South in college football, on 14 November. H-SC, however, has a bye week, and plays no more conference games, with only a game against non-conference Salisbury on 7 November.

If R-MC prevails over Guilford and Bridgewater, or even loses a game, it shapes up to be a conference title game when the Tigers meet the Yellowjackets on 14 November.

For Division III devotees and alums, it shapes up to be a great November weekend to be in Ashland.

Which is something this proud Tiger alum never thought he'd say.

Hampden-Sydney Now Master Of Its Own Destiny...

... for the 2009 ODAC football championship.

Well, almost. Current standings have the Tigers standing alone at the top of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, with only a single conference game to play. With Randolph-Macon College's 20-13 loss today to 1-6 Guilford (the Tigers were idle), R-MC has two conference games remaining, with the first at 6-2 Bridgewater next week. H-SC also has two games remaining, with a non-conference game against Salisbury next week.

H-SC and R-MC meet in Ashland for The Game on 14 November

This could play out a number of ways. If the Yellowjackets lose next week, it's game over, and The Game only matters for bragging rights. Even if R-MC were to beat the Tigers, H-SC will have only a single conference loss, and having already beaten Bridgewater in Week 5 of the season 19-0, will win any tie-breaker --- even if Bridgewater prevails over Catholic in the final week of its season --- over anyone within reach of the ODAC championship.

On the other hand, if 5-3 R-MC prevails over 6-2 Bridgewater, the The Game will, for all intents and purposes, be the ODAC championship game.

Sooo, I find myself rooting for Bridgewater next week, and bwana and I will be of one mind.

And A Shout Out To My Friend Bwana!

No matter the outcome of this year's Hampden-Sydney/Bridgewater football game --- in recent years, it has foretold the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship --- or even the game against long-time rival Randolph-Macon College (the coeducational experiment in Ashland), Hampden-Sydney men will take solace in this more important measure of educational quality.

Review of the list shows H-SC to be number eleven (11) among all Southern colleges in salary potential. H-SC is number two among Virginia colleges, behind only Washington & Lee University, and ahead of Virginia Tech, UVa, and William & Mary.

Indeed, H-SC fares well against more well-known and larger institutions such as George Washington, Johns Hopkins, SMU, Emory, Florida, Clemson, and Florida State.

Another One Bites The Dust

As anticipated here, the "board of imbeciles trustees" (as someone here, put it) of Randolph-Macon Women's College voted to go co-ed in the fall of 2007. Women have one less educational option, and Hampden-Sydney men have one less option for ... well, whatever. I have a lot of fond memories of R-MWC girls, none of which I am going to relate in a place where my wife might read them.

Now administrators will have to come up with a new name. Benedict Arnold College has been suggested and right now, I can't think of a more apt name. Were I an alumnae (my sister is, class of '89), my dollars would be going elsewhere.

This is terribly sad. Stories noting this infamy are here:

Washington Post
Roanoke Times
Richmond Times-Dispatch
ASSOCIATED PRESS
News & Advance

Better they had closed the doors than diminished the educational firmament. Better dead than co-ed.

RIP.

Randie Mac Update

Just came across this website, dedicated to preserve Randolph-Macon Women's College as a single-sex institution. Discovered it when she linked to this post regarding the proposal to turn RMWC into just another small Liberal Arts college in Virginia.

I did learn something new, however. Apparently, the girls at Randie Mac refer to us Hampden-Sydney boys as the guys from "Hump 'N Screwme."

She worried that I might take offense at her bon mot. Quite the contrary.

Another One Bites the Dust?

The Washington Post had a great article in today's "Close to Home" page of the Outlook section, addressing the possibility that Virginia's Randolph-Macon Women's College will go co-ed. Not to be confused with the experiment in co-education in Ashland, R-MWC is in Lynchburg. It is my sister's alma mater. It has quite a few more distinguished alumnae, including CNN's Candy Crowley ('70), Arkansas Senator Blanche Lambert Lincoln ('84), and Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck. I attended and graduated from Hampden-Sydney College, an all-male college just an hour from R-MWC (or, as we affecionately referred to it, "Randie Mac"). Sadly, it appears to be a done deal.

Today's article is by Richard Kurin, father of a current R-MWC student, and notes the dismay among students, alumnae, and faculty students. They suggest that the new iteration of the College --- obviously, the name will have to be changed --- should be "Benedict Arnold College." He notes that "many alums say they will not financially support the college if it enrolls men," which rings true. I have it on good authority that, on that dark day in 1985 when Washington & Lee University (or, as we thereafter called it, "Washington & Leigh University"), three major donors to W & L called and switched their support to H-SC.

I sincerely hope that Randie Mac deviates from this ill-considered course. Single-sex education (both male and female) have an important place in the education firmament. That firmament will be diminished if R-MWC becomes just another small Liberal Arts college in Virginia.

Not Quite "The Game," but....

Thanks to Old Zach at Sic Semper Tyrannis for bringing my attention to this great article on the impending "Fracas in Farmville" (actually, seven miles south) on Saturday.

I hadn't recalled that this was lopsided in our favor. Two years ago, this one was stolen from H-SC on a bad call on the last Bridgewater drive. H-SC was (wrongly, in my partisan opinion, but I saw the play, and it was a bizarre call) called for roughing the passer on 4th and ten with under two minutes; Bridgewater was able to score to take its first lead of the game, and there was inadequate time left for H-SC to score again. It was a high-scoring game.

If you're there, look for the new tan Montana on the Hill, just past Hampden House. The Youngs will be tailgating, with a traditional pitcher of Bloodies. Denizens of the blogosphere are welcome.

BTW, "The Game," for the unanointed, is the traditional last game of the regular season, between Hampden-Sydney and Randolph-Macon or, as we like to call it, "the coeducational experiment in Ashland."

UPDATE: As noted in the comments, the final score was 31-24, with Bridgewater coming out on top. I wish that I could say that it was otherwise. A great game, it cannot be said that this was one decided by the officials. It was, sadly for the Tigers, a game in which their opponent's performance was superior to theirs. If some solace can be taken over this loss, it is in the fact that it was decided by the efforts of the players, not by the mistakes of the officials. Congrats to Bridgewater.