GROVE CITY COLLEGE

'Grove City College' is a private liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, with a population of about 2,500 undergraduate students. The college is located about sixty-five miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The main defining attributes that Grove City College emphasizes are rigorous academics and an authentic Christian environment at an affordable cost.
The school emphasizes a humanities core curriculum, which endorses the Judeo-Christian Western tradition and the free market. While loosely associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the college is non-denominational and does not require students to sign a statement of faith, though they are required to attend sixteen chapel services per semester. Many students choose Grove City explicitly for its Christian environment and politically conservative humanities curriculum. Grove City ranks second in the Princeton Review's ''The Best 361 Colleges 2007'' listing of most politically conservative colleges [1]. However, not all Grove City students and professors are politically, socially, religiously, and ideologically conservative. In 2005 Grove City founded its Center for Vision and Values, further advancing its programs in the humanities. It is currently ranked by ''US News and World Report'' as a best value in the nation, with a total cost (including tuition, room, and board) of around $17,600 a year. It has also been positively reviewed in the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's guide -- ''Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools''. The school currently ranks 7th among Comprehensive Colleges–Bachelor's (North) in the ''US News & World Report America's Best Colleges 2007'' [2].
Grove City has an acceptance rate around 45% [3]. As many as 80-90% of students choose to interview on campus. The average SAT score of the incoming freshman class was around 1300 [4].

Contents

History

Supreme Court case

Recent history

Academics

Chapel

Sports and organizations

Athletics

The Collegian

Greek life

Housing groups

Orientation Board

Student Government Association

WSAJ Radio

Notable alumni and professors

Past Presidents

Traditions and trivia

The Quad

Greek village

"Creeking"

Co-education

External links

History

Founded in 1876 by Isaac C. Ketler, the school was originally chartered as Pine Grove Normal Academy. Grove City was heavily supported by Joseph Newton Pew, founder of the Sunoco Oil Company. His son, Joseph Howard Pew, continued this legacy, richly contributing to the school's programs. Pew once said that his two major philanthropic causes were GCC and The Pew Charitable Trusts. In October 2004, the college dedicated a statue to his memory outside of the college's Harbison Chapel.

Supreme Court case

Under President Dr. Charles S. MacKenzie, the college was the plaintiff-appellee in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in 1984, ''Grove City College v. Bell''. The ruling came seven years after the school's refusal to sign a Title IX compliance form, which would have subjected the entire school to federal regulations, even future ones not yet issued. The court ruled 6-3 that acceptance by students of federal educational grants did fall under the regulatory requirements of Title IX, but limited the application to the school's financial aid department. Although the college's materials call this a victory for the school, the Court ruled against it on two out of the three claims it advanced. In 1988, new legislation subjected every department of any educational institution that received federal funding to Title IX requirements. In response, Grove City College pulled out of the Stafford loan program entirely, and established its own loan program in association with PNC Bank. Grove City does not allow its students to accept federal financial aid of any kind, including grants, loans, and scholarships yet heavily influences local politics often determining outcomes beneficial to the campus community.

Recent history

Grove City College adopts a strong policy in regard to alcohol use on campus, with first time offenders receiving a one week suspension from all activities. Legal age students are permitted to consume alcohol off campus, provided that they do not appear inebriated upon their return. Current student organizations must agree to a strong policy regarding alcohol use both on and off campus, their violation resulting in the loss of their charter.
Along with alcohol use, other activities which are against the historically Christian morality of the school are banned. This includes pre-marital sex and homosexual activity. The school's official stance on homosexuality has subtly changed over the years, changing wording from condemning 'homosexuality' to focusing on same-sex 'activity.' Off-campus housing was disallowed in the 1980s, an early indicator of the school's change in organizational culture.
In recent years, the college has engaged in many new construction projects, including an expansion to the college's music and arts center in 2002, a new academic building in 2003, a new student union/bookstore in 2004, and new apartment style housing in 2006. Even more construction projects, and renovations of existing buildings are planned for the next few years.

Academics

Students are required to take general requirements courses, with science, mathematics/reasoning, and several other courses. The base of the general requirements are centered around a humanities core, with courses on Western Civilization, Art, Literature, and Biblical Revelation. Requirements for majors differ, but typically a student is also required to gain mastery in a foreign language and reach some mathematical proficiency. Many Grove City students take one to three general requirements classes in their freshmen, sophomore, and sometimes junior years, along with classes for their respective major.

Chapel

Grove City students must attend a minimum of 16 chapel services each semester. These requirements may be accomplished on Tuesday mornings, Thursday mornings, and Sunday nights (through a "vespers" service). Recently, students have been given the opportunity to receive a chapel credit for attending lectures on the first and last Monday night of each month; chapel staff is still working on this option. These chapel services vary greatly, and feature many touring singers and worship groups. Nearly all chapel and vespers services are held inside the Harbison Chapel; occasionally chapel may be held in Crawford Hall or the student union instead.
Failure to attend the required number of chapel services results in a graduating student's diploma being withheld until the offending student has completed a corresponding number of single-page book reports. While the college maintains this requirement, it has become less stringent than in years past.
It should be noted that Grove City College has been under administrative censure by the American Association of University Professors since 1963, based upon the college's dismissal of a professor without sufficient due process.

Sports and organizations

Grove City's various student organizations are numerous. The following is a list of some of the more notable groups:

Athletics

Known as the Wolverines, Grove City College competes in the Presidents' Athletic Conference of NCAA Division III and plays host to a wide range of varsity, club, and intramural sports, including football, volleyball, soccer, tennis, cross country, basketball, swimming, baseball, softball, water polo, track, Grove rugby, golf, and lacrosse [5].

The Collegian

The weekly student newspaper contains sections for news, perspectives, features, entertainment, religion and sports. Student editors and staff handle writing, editing, photography, layout and all other aspects of newspaper production, except the actual printing [6].

Greek life

Fraternities and sororities live on campus, in pre-selected upper class halls. Strict regulations apply to students joining a Greek organization. Grove City's fraternities and sororities are not affiliated with any national groups.
Over the years, many sororities and one fraternity, Chi Delta Epsilon, have permanently died out. The most recent sorority to become defunct was the short-lived Delta Chi Omega, which was founded in 1980 and lasted approximately one decade.
Fraternities which have died out (meaning all their active members graduated or left the college) and been reinstituted via block classes include Beta Sigma, Sigma Alpha Sigma and Adelphikos. All three of these fraternities are currently in existence.
Both fraternities and sororities are overseen by governing bodies. The fraternities each send delegates to weekly meetings of the Interfraternity Council. The sororities' counterpart organization, the Pan-Hellenic Council, also meets each week. In the spring, the two councils hold joint meetings to plan the annual Greek Games.
The Greek Games, a multi-day event which involved such activities as water balloon tossing and egg dropping, have declined in notoriety at Grove City College along with the size of Greek organizations; until the 1990s they were well-known on campus, with the majority of the student body either participating or spectating.

Housing groups

Male students who do not join fraternities can obtain block housing privileges through one of nine organizations known as housing groups.
Grove City College housing groups are collections of similarly-interested students which enjoy block housing, yet are not fraternal or Greek in nature. Such groups were founded in the 1970s and given permission to use Greek letters by the extant fraternities on campus and the Grove City College administration. Greek organizations have taken issue with the purported failure of housing groups to abide according to the original founding stipulations, which include having a common purpose and limiting membership to those living in groups' respective dorm halls. Fraternities and housing groups are distinctly different organizations that serve different roles in the student body at Grove City College.

Orientation Board

Orientation Board, often referred to as “OB”, is a group of roughly 100 upper classmen students chosen each year to welcome the incoming students beginning on move-in day and throughout the year. Orientation Board is divided into 5 different committees: Social, Outreach (formerly Academic), Religious, Co-Rec, and Publicity. The group also plans and holds numerous events the first week freshmen arrive on campus. These events include the street dance, graffiti dance, carnival, and co-recreational games.

Student Government Association

The student body elects members to serve on this board, which acts as the primary communication link between the students and the administration.

WSAJ Radio

Main articles: WSAJ

On the air since 1922, the Grove City College radio station (91.1 FM) functions as a learning tool for all students, but especially those in the communication and engineering majors. The station broadcasts college football and basketball games, and students host weekly music shows during the evening hours 7 days a week when school is in session [7].

Notable alumni and professors

★ Dr. Herbert M. Austin (Professor of Marine Biology, College of William and Mary)

★ David M. Bailey (Alumnus, Guitarist, Singer-songwriter, Cancer Survivor)

★ Edward D. Breen (board member; CEO of Tyco)

★ Scott Hahn (Alumnus, Roman Catholic theologian)

★ Richard G. Jewell (current president), former Pittsburgh director of Navigant Consulting Inc. (nation's largest forensic accounting firm)

★ Paul Kengor (professor, author of ''God and Ronald Reagan'')

★ Isaac C. Ketler (founder)

★ Paul McNulty (U.S. Deputy Attorney General)

★ Joseph Howard Pew (founder and former president of Sun Oil Company)

★ Spike Shannon (former professional baseball player)

★ Hans Sennholz (former president of the Foundation for Economic Education.)

★ J. Paul Sticht (former president of R. J. Reynolds)

★ Paul Bonicelli (former professor, Deputy Director of the USAID)

★ Scott G. Bullock (alumnus, Senior Attorney and founding member of The Institute For Justice)

★ William Nutt (Founder/Chairman of the Board of AMG: Affiliated Managers Group Inc.)

★ Bill Deasy (Singer/Songwriter, author of the novel 'Ransom Seaborn'. Former lead singer of the popular Pittsburgh-area band 'The Gathering Field')

Past Presidents

★ Isaac Conrad Ketler (1876-1913)

★ Alexander T. Ormond (1913-1915)

★ Weir Carlyle Ketler (1916-1956)

★ John Stanley Harker (1956-1971)

★ Charles Sherrard Mackenzie (1971-1991)

★ Jerry H. Combee (1991-1995)

★ John H. Moore (1996-2003)

Traditions and trivia

The Quad

Lying in the center of Grove City College Campus is the quadrangle, or "quad." Students have historically been prohibited by the administration from walking on the grass in this area. In recent years, restrictions have laxed, and the quad has been the subject of controversy among students and faculty. In the fall of 2005, the student government association voted to open the Upper Quad to "light athletic activities" and the administration established new policies for quad use. The Lower Quad remains off-limits and is only used for such events as baccalaureate, commencement, and homecoming. There is a long-standing legend of the "Tower Sniper" which is passed from upperclassmen to freshmen. The Tower Sniper lives in the clock tower of Rockwell Hall and is said to shoot at anyone who walks across the quad.

Greek village

Each fall during Homecoming Weekend, the fraternities and sororities set up tents in which to meet, greet, and sometimes eat with their returning alumni. These tents make up Grove City College's Greek Village. The Greek Village has typically been set up on Lower Campus, near the football field, but in 2005 the tents were set up on Upper Campus, on the Quad. While most of the tents belong to fraternities and sororities, some other organizations also have been known to share a space in the Village.

"Creeking"

Creeking takes place on two occasions, typically. The first is when a male Grove City student becomes engaged. The second occasion for creeking is when a fraternity man has been elected as the sweetheart of a sorority. Creeking is done by a group of men, who are typically the subject's friends, subduing the man to be creeked and carrying him from his dorm building down to Wolf Creek in the center of campus while chanting, "Wolf Creek." The friends then toss the subject into the creek. If the bride-to-be does not reach her fionce with a towel when he is coming out of the creek, then he is allowed to throw her in as well.

Co-education

When it opened, Grove City College was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the United States to admit both male and female students.

External links

★ Grove City College

★ Grove City College Athletics

★ My GCC Web Portal

★ The Center for Vision and Values

★ WSAJ College Radio Station

★ Grove City College Costs