A Welcome From Tex
Since its establishment in 1964, Antioch University has carved out a
unique identity within the national education landscape. This latest issue of
Groundswell magazine explores the concept of identity, bringing you stories
from across the five campuses and two university-wide programs that make
up the Antioch University system.
Here at Antioch University Los Angeles, our identity is grounded in
one-of-a-kind academic offerings and community engagement. We are home
to the world’s only MFA program specifically focused on literature and the
pursuit of social justice, as well as the first graduate psychology specialization
in affirmative psychology for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals.
In an era of rapidly increasing college tuition rates, AULA is known for
continually developing valuable and cost-effective educational opportunities.
We have partnered with Da Vinci Schools – three public charter high schools
in Hawthorne, California – which enables students to take AULA courses
and earn credit toward both their high school diplomas and future college
degrees. We are now in the early stages of developing a proposal for a timeand-money saving “upside-down” degree for community college graduates
of vocational programs, which will allow them to apply those credits toward
a bachelor’s degree from AULA.
Our identity is also characterized by our commitment to providing
no cost, life-changing services to the underserved in Greater Los Angeles.
Since 1999, we have provided free college courses in the humanities to lowincome adults through the Bridge Program, which currently operates on
the AULA campus and in Downtown Los Angeles. Thanks to a recent grant
from the Weingart Foundation, we will open a third site in Long Beach,
California, by the fall of 2014.
Colors LGBTQ Youth Counseling Center opened in Los Angeles in early
2012 as an initiative of AULA’s LGBT-Affirmative Psychology Specialization,
offering free counseling to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/
questioning youth and their families. (See story on
page 31.)
Throughout this issue, you will find that
AULA ultimately boasts two distinct but
complementary identities: a regional
leader in socially conscious education
and services and a proud member
of a university system that provides
excellence in education throughout
the U.S. and around the world.
Sincerely,
Tex Boggs, President
Antioch University Los Angeles
President Boggs makes a contribution
to AULA’s Perpetual Food Drive.
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