Antioch Self-Destructs

The announcement in June 2007 by Antioch University that it would be closing Antioch College produced a great deal of commentary. One of the better offerings was a 2007 piece in the "Weekly Standard" by Charlotte Allen, which ran under the title "Death by Political Correctness." Her analysis presents a complex picture, but Allen leaves no doubt that political correctness had a powerful hand in Antioch's destruction. Yet, political correctness is all around us. If Antioch died from it, how far behind can others be? What lessons does it have to teach to the rest of the academe about their own fate? These were the questions that drew the author's attention back to Antioch, from which it had been withdrawn--along with his identification with the Left. In this article, the author focuses on the dynamics underlying political correctness and the threats they pose to organizations, and has developed a good sense for organizational situations in which these dynamics are taking place. (Contains 24 footnotes.)