Faculty here at Antioch College have deep roots in the community. For professor Mario Rodriguez Garcia, this has been true for decades. Beginning in the 1970’s, Mario worked closely with Antioch College to provide study-abroad experiences to Antioch students and others across the GLCA campuses. During this time, he taught Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico to students from the New Directions program here at Antioch.
In 1981, he was invited to the Antioch campus to teach a Spanish course. From then on, he began to develop relationships with student groups as well as with the Yellow Springs community. With the HUMAN (Help Us Make a Nation) group, he worked with students and faculty of color as well as with people of color in the Yellow Springs community. He also participated in several Antioch activist projects, including protests against various US conflicts in Central and South America.
Mario was offered a permanent position at the college, but was unable to stay permanently at the time for family reasons. Now, in his retirement and after working for several years at Wittenberg College, he has returned to Antioch as a professor of Spanish. He says that in both the previous institution, as well as at the new college, he has enjoyed working with the unique and active students on campus.
In his time at Antioch in recent months, he says he would like to see the continuation of study abroad programs for students, and would like to be a part of such initiatives. He would also like to rebuild relationships between the Yellow Springs Latino community and the Spanish program here at Antioch.
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