Antioch College lifts students up and honors its signature commitment to classroom, co-op, and community with its first annual Horace Mann Student Excellence Awards, also affectionately called “The Mannys.”
At the college’s last community meeting of the term, faculty members named three students who model some aspect of those three values that are core to Antioch College’s mission.
The recipients were finalized by the Dean responsible for the relevant value of classroom, co-op, or community after reviewing nominations from faculty, supervisors or fellow students.
As a recipient of a Manny award students were given a commemorative bell symbolizing the Main Building towers which house the college’s bell. The ringing of that bell and all that it stands for is making a revival throughout campus. It is more than a sound, it is a reminder of our mission and why we strive to achieve success inside our classrooms, out on co-op, and throughout our community.
Since its founding, work has been a component of students’ education at Antioch College. Student work on campus goes all the way back to Horace Mann, the college’s founder and first president.
William Johnston, one of Antioch’s first student workers, rang the college bell in exchange for room and board. He lived in one of the towers in Main Building and rang the bell to wake students up, call them to classes, chapel, and meals.
Over the years the routine ringing of the bell faded, but as the college reaches new heights the bell is reverberating louder than ever before. When Antioch achieved Federal Work College status this year, the college rang the bell as students and faculty gathered to celebrate this pivotal moment. Scott Sanders, the college Archivist, shared excerpts from Johnston’s personal diary, which was donated to Antiochiana by his family descendants.
In addition to achieving Federal Work College status Antioch College was named a Top 100 National Liberal Arts College, an Ohio Reach designation, and the most inclusive private college in Ohio.
With each success and the ones yet to come, Antiochians remember the bells and how they serve as a foundation for Antioch College an institution so deeply rooted in meaningful work.