Southern California - Antioch University Los Angeles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Antioch University Announces Historic Changes

Yellow Spring, OH – February 22, 2007– As Antioch University Southern California -- with campuses both in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles -- prepared to celebrate its 35th anniversary, the University’s Board of Trustees announced that they felt that the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara campuses have reached a point in their growth and development to warrant operating as separate campuses of the University, each with its own president in order to better serve the distinct educational needs of these two communities. In addition the Board authorized the two presidents to seek regional accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Joanna Gerber Smith
Director of Public Relations & Communications
Phone: 310.578.1080 x119
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Antioch University Announces Historic Changes

Dr. Toni Murdock, Chancellor of the Antioch University system stated, “I am elated with the move to acquire separate accreditation for the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles campuses. This aligns with our strategic plan to work towards strengthening each of our Antioch campuses through closer integration with their communities.”

Neal King, Ph.D, has been appointed President of Antioch University Los Angeles. King joined the University in 2004 where he served as Antioch New England’s academic dean and then as its interim president. He moved to the Los Angeles campus in July 2006 accepting the position of academic dean.

King is a psychologist by training, having completed his graduate study at UC Berkeley and then had a private practice in Northern California for 14 years. His past experience includes founding director of the Psy.D. program at John F. Kennedy University in the San Francisco Bay Area and founding campus president of what was then the University of Sarasota in Orange County. Dr. King also serves as a consultant and team chair and member for three of the six regional accrediting bodies in the US.

“Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA) is the most spirited, diverse, passionate, and committed learning community that I have seen in American Higher Education” states Dr. King. “LA is of course the center of the known universe – unique, alive, creative, diverse, and limitless in promise and demand. The opportunity of AULA, with its guiding values of conscience, social justice and service to all humbles me enormously as its new president. It’s great to be back in LA, my childhood home, and at the helm of this unparalleled university, my spiritual home.”

The Antioch University Santa Barbara campus will be headed up by President Michael Mulnix, Ph.D. who prior to this appointment was serving as the provost and dean of academic affairs at Santa Barbara.

Mulnix earned his doctorate in public communication from the University of Maryland in College Park. Prior to coming to Antioch, Mulnix most recently served as the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio and as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Our Lady of the Lake University, also in San Antonio. He has been an awarding winning reporter and columnist for several major newspapers.

In response to his appointment Dr. Mulnix said, "I am thrilled that Chancellor Murdock and the Board of Trustees have given me their vote of confidence by naming me the first President of Antioch University Santa Barbara. It is a wonderful campus with great potential, and I will work closely with faculty, staff and students to make our university one of the premiere institutions of higher learning on the West Coast."

“Antioch University’s mission is grounded in community engagement and service; the path to our success lies in our ability to provide distinct and unique program offerings to each campuses’ individual community” added Chancellor Murdock. “We have two very strong and experienced leaders in Drs. King and Mulnix that will insure the growth and vitality of both campuses.”

The Antioch campus locations are outgrowths of famed Antioch College, and share the same progressive values and fiercely independent spirit as well as an uncompromising commitment to student-centered learning. Antioch University Los Angeles is centrally located in Culver City, allowing the campus to draw inspiration from the diverse cultural pockets around Los Angeles. The University offers a Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as several graduate programs in Education, Psychology, Organizational Management and Creative Writing.

The Santa Barbara campus is located in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, just minutes from the city’s arts, shopping and dining hub. In addition to undergraduate and graduate programs, the Santa Barbara campus recently launched a doctorate program in Psychology and has a doctorate in business under development. While each of the Southern California campuses share similar values and attract primarily adult working students, their programs and delivery modules are as unique and specialized as their diverse surrounding communities.

Arthur J. Zucker, Chair of Antioch University’s Board of Trustees stated “This is a historic moment for Antioch and its two campuses in California. Antioch University has long been synonymous with independent values, experiential education and social justice. Both Antioch University Los Angeles and Antioch University Santa Barbara are now optimally positioned to provide innovative and progressive programs within their distinct communities.”

For more information on Antioch University Los Angeles or Antioch University Santa Barbara, please visit our websites at www.antiochla.edu and www.antiochsb.edu or contact Joanna Gerber Smith at (310) 578-1080 x 119.

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