The Antioch Tradition

Antioch has always been known for its innovative approaches to learning. When it was founded in 1852, Antioch was named after the Syrian city where the apostle Paul launched his missionary expeditions. Antioch’s beginnings were indeed Christian, although its first president was statesman Horace Mann, himself a fierce non-denominationalist. Mann came to Antioch to build a nonsectarian institution of higher learning that would embrace all religions, a formidable task in its day.

In his book, “The Distinctive College: Antioch, Reed & Swarthmore" (Transaction Publishers, 1992), Burton Clark described what distinguished Antioch from other colleges of its day. Clark, an organizational sociologist who has written extensively about higher education, said Antioch was “on the high road of idealism and reform" when it opened its doors to women and African Americans. In the 1850s, few other colleges took such radical steps.

From the outset, Antioch established itself as innovative, although it wasn’t until the 1920s, with Arthur Morgan as president, that Antioch became synonymous with sweeping transformations in higher education. Read more about the Mann and Morgan legacy.

Today, Antioch University Seattle takes pride in its progressive heritage and continues to foster ground-breaking programs in higher education. When you walk in the front door at AUS, over the entry you’ll spot a famous quote by Horace Mann that has just as much meaning for Antioch today as it did more than 140 years ago. In remarks to Antioch College’s graduating class of 1859, Mann said, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."