Grove City College (GCC) is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
,
conservative Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
liberal arts college
A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...
in
Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a
normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
, the college emphasizes a
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-professional programs with undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts, sciences, business, education, engineering, and music.
Though once associated with the
Presbyterian Church
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, the college is now unaffiliated.
History
Founding
Founded in 1876 by
Isaac C. Ketler
Isaac C. Ketler (1853–1913) was the co-founder and first president of Grove City College, a Presbyterian college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, USA.
Isaac Conrad Ketler was a devout Presbyterian. Dr. Ketler was born at Northumberland, Pennsylvania ...
,
the school was originally chartered as Pine Grove Normal Academy. It had twenty-six students in its first year. In 1884, the trustees of Pine Grove Normal Academy in Grove City amended the academy charter to change the name to Grove City College. By charter, the doors of the College were open to qualified students "without regard to religious test or belief." Isaac Ketler served as president until 1913.
Grove City was also supported by
Joseph Newton Pew, founder of the
Sun Oil Company
Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations, ...
. Pew and Ketler's sons, Weir C. Ketler and John Howard Pew, later went on to become Grove City president and president of the board of trustees, respectively. During the summer of 1925,
J. Gresham Machen
John Gresham Machen (; 1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1906 and 1929, and led a revolt against modernist t ...
gave the lectures that formed the basis of his book, ''What Is Faith?''
World War II
As World War II began, Grove City College was one of six schools selected by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
to participate in the highly unusual
Electronics Training Program
The Electronics Training Program (ETP) was the name commonly used for an unusual, difficult, and selective training activity of the United States Navy during World War II.
The ETP combined college-level classroom instruction with laboratories i ...
(ETP). Starting March 1942, each month a new group of 100 Navy and Marine students arrived for three months of 14-hour days in concentrated electrical engineering study. ETP admission required passing the
Eddy Test, one of the most selective qualifying exams given during the war years. Professor Russell P. Smith was the program's Director of Instruction. By the fall of 1943, there were only 81 civilian men in the student body; thus, the presence of 300 or so servicemen contributed greatly in sustaining the College. This training at Grove City continued until April 1945; library records show that there were 49 classes graduating 3,759 persons.
Supreme Court case
Under President Dr. Charles S. MacKenzie, the college was the plaintiff-appellee in the landmark
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case in 1984, ''Grove City College v. Bell''. The ruling came seven years after the school's refusal to sign a
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
compliance form, which would have subjected the entire school to federal regulations, even ones not yet issued. The court ruled 6–3 that acceptance by students of federal educational grants fell under the regulatory requirements of Title IX, but it limited the application to the school's financial aid department.
In 1988, new legislation subjected every department of any educational institution that received federal funding to Title IX requirements. In response, Grove City College withdrew from the
Pell Grant program entirely beginning with the 1988–89 academic year, replacing such grants to students with its own program, the Student Freedom Fund. In October 1996, the college withdrew from the
Stafford Loan program, providing entering students with replacements through a program with
PNC Bank
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of ...
.
Grove City is one of a handful of colleges (along with
Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists.
Its missio ...
, which did likewise after the aforementioned 1984 case
) that does not allow its students to accept federal financial aid of any kind, including grants, loans and scholarships.
Recent history
From 1963 until 2016, the
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations.
The AAUP's stated mission is ...
placed Grove City under censure for violations of
tenure and
academic freedom
Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
because of the dismissal of Professor of History and Political Science Dr. Larry Gara. By the end of this period, Grove City's administration was on the AAUP's list of censured administrations longer than any other college on the list. In its report, the AAUP Investigative Committee at Grove City concluded that "the absence of due process
n the dismissal of professors at Grove Cityraises... doubts regarding the academic security of any persons who may hold appointment at Grove City College under existing administrative practice. These doubts are of an order of magnitude which obliges us to report them to the academic profession at large." In 2013 Grove City started working to remove itself from the censure list. Two years later, the school admitted that they would have handled Dr. Gara's case rather differently under their current procedures. This led the AAUP to lift their sanction on the school at its annual meeting in 2016. Gara received an apology from the school in October 2015.
In 2005, Grove City founded the conservative think-tank the Center for Vision and Values In April 2019, it was renamed the Institute for Faith & Freedom, saying that it "more clearly aligns it with the historic values of the College."
In recent years, the college has engaged in many new construction projects, including an expansion to its 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. Grove City's Student Union building was honored with the International Masonry Institute's Golden Trowel Grand Prize for excellence in masonry design and construction in 2005. On February 9, 2011 Grove City College announced that it would break ground for construction of a science, engineering and mathematics building – key components of Grove City Matters: A Campaign to Advance Grove City College, which at $90 million is the largest capital campaign in the college's history. The $37.2-million science, engineering and mathematics building is designed to support new modes of teaching, particularly flexible laboratories and small-group interactions. It will help ensure that Grove City College continues to prepare students for future careers in an increasingly competitive work force, officials said. STEM Hall was opened in August 2013 and provides laboratory space for students studying biology, chemistry, physics and computer science. In the summer of 2021, Grove City announced that the campus' Henry Buhl Library would be majorly renovated, with the addition of classroom space, updated study areas, and a cafe.
The college acquired an
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
from
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
PennWest Edinboro is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University, a multi-campus public university in Pennsylvania. Located in the town of Edinboro, the campus has more than 4,600 enrolled students.
History
Edinboro University was founded ...
in February 2008 that will be used for
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
classes as well as faculty and student research. The observatory's telescope will be operated remotely, from the college's main campus – more than away. The purchase of the property, three buildings and equipment inside will pave the way for the addition of an
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
minor on campus. Through this
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
, the college's
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
department plans to work with area public schools as well as other colleges and universities on educational and research projects and draw prospective students who are looking for strong physics programs and astronomy coursework.
Academics
Accreditation
Grove City offers 55 majors in the
liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
, sciences and engineering.
The college is
accredited by the
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...
. The college's
electrical and
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
and mechanical engineering programs are
accredited by the
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
The ABET (incorporated as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc.) is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineering ...
, Inc. (ABET). Most recently, the Bachelor of Science in Social Work program was approved as a candidate for accreditation through the specialized accreditation offered through the
Council on Social Work Education. IN 2019, Grove City announced a new partnership with Butler County Community College to provide a Bachelors of Science in Nursing degree.
Rankings
Grove City has an acceptance rate of 82.5%.
The average GPA of entering freshmen is 3.70 in 2017.
The average
ACT score of the 2017 incoming freshman class was 26.
The average
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schola ...
score of the 2017 incoming freshman class was 1231.
''US News & World Reports 2020 college rankings place Grove City 120th among 233 "National Liberal Arts Colleges". ''
Consumers Digest Magazine''
's Top 100 College Values ranks Grove City College, the top value in private liberal arts schools throughout the nation in May 2011.
Connections to think tanks
Although it is a small liberal arts college, Grove City's faculty and administrators significantly influence and impact the ideas of various
think tanks around the USA especially on issues involving the environment, education,
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
, and anything economic and conservative. Grove City College has international ties, founded in 1955, and on the International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL) Freedom Network.
The National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise an organization that seeks to provide effective community and faith-based organizations with training and technical assistance, links them to sources of support, and evaluates their experience for public policy to address the problems of youth violence, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, homelessness, joblessness, poor education and deteriorating neighborhoods, publicizes events held at Grove City College.
The Lone Mountain Coalition, part of the Property and Environment Research Center, which claims to be "America's oldest and largest institute dedicated to original research that brings market principles to resolving environmental problems", has ties to Grove City through Michael Coulter, Vice-President of the Shenango Institute for Public Policy, and associate professor of political science at Grove City College.
The college also has ties to the
Ludwig von Mises Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973).
It wa ...
, a
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. Several members of the Mises Institute faculty are also faculty at Grove City.
Jeffery Herbener Jeffery may refer to:
* Jeffery (name), including a list of people with the name
* Jeffery (automobile), an early American automobile manufacturer
* Thomas B. Jeffery Company
* Jeffery Boulevard, a major north–south street on the South Side of Ch ...
is a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and professor of economics at Grove City College. Shawn Ritenour is an associate professor of economics at Grove City College and an associated scholar at the Mises Institute in
Auburn, Alabama.
Grove City also has ties to
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
through Lawrence W. (Larry) Reed, president of Michigan's
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy () in Midland, Michigan, is the largest U.S. state-based free market think tank in the United States. The Mackinac Center conducts policy research and educational programs. The Center sponsors MichiganVotes. ...
. Reed received his B.A. in Economics from Grove City in 1975. Reed is also past president of the
State Policy Network.
The Academic Advisory Committee of the
John Locke Foundation
The John Locke Foundation (JLF) is a conservative think tank based in North Carolina. The organization was founded in 1990 to work "for truth, for freedom, and for the future of North Carolina." It is named after the philosopher John Locke, who was ...
, a free market think tank in North Carolina, which supports the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the nation, includes Dr.
Walter E. Williams
Walter Edward Williams (March 31, 1936December 1, 2020) was an American economist, commentator, and academic. Williams was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist an ...
, the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics,
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
, holder of a Doctor of Humane Letters from Grove City College and John Moore, Former President of Grove City College, who led the college through its withdrawal from federal student loan programs, which completed the college's break from federal ties.
Academics
Students are required to take general requirements courses, with science, mathematics/reasoning, and several other courses. The base of the general requirements is 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 take three foreign language classes and reach some mathematical proficiency. Many Grove City students take one to three general requirements classes in their freshman, sophomore, and sometimes junior years, along with classes for their respective major.
Many students choose Grove City explicitly for its Christian environment and traditional
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
curriculum. A three-year required
Humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
sequence focuses on the origin, development and implications of civilization's seminal ideas and
worldviews
A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...
. The courses cover content that includes religion, philosophy, history and
philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
, literature, art and music.
Because of its strong adherence to freedom and minimal government interference, Grove City College is considered to be one of America's foremost colleges that teach the ideas of the
Austrian School of Economics
The Austrian School is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motiva ...
. The post-1938 personal papers of
Ludwig Von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and Sociology, sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberali ...
, are housed in the archive of Grove City College. Grove City College also hosts the Austrian Student Scholars Conference. Annually done in February, a collection of students from around the United States present research papers on the history of economic thought or on current developments within the Austrian School of Thought. In addition to traditional business programs, Grove City also offers a degree in Entrepreneurship and a degree in Business Economics.
Policies and environment
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. The school currently maintains a one-to-one ratio of men to women, ensuring that the student body is approximately 50% men and 50% women.
Grove City College adopts a strong policy in regard to
alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
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.
In 2012, The Princeton Review listed Grove City College as the 2nd most LGBT-unfriendly school in the United States. Lacking the administrative will to address key factors driving the 2012 ranking, in 2013 Grove City landed at #1 in the Princeton Review’s rankings of most LGBT-unfriendly schools in the America. As of 2016, they are ranked 9th.
By refusing to accept federal funds and so-called Title IV financial aid (from the
Higher Education Act of 1965
The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) () was legislation signed into Law of the United States, United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University (t ...
), Grove City is not required to adhere to various federal guidelines that (i) prevent sex-based and many other forms of discrimination (e.g.,
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
of the
Education Amendments of 1972
The Education Amendments of 1972, also sometimes known as the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 (Public Law No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235), were U.S. legislation enacted on June 23, 1972. It is best known for its Title IX, which prohibited disc ...
), (ii) regulate investigations into accusations of sexual abuse, (iii) require the collecting and sharing of information about crimes on campus (
Clery Act
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act, signed in 1990, is a federal statute codified at , with implementing regulations in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at .
The Clery Act requir ...
), and (iv) set standards for disciplinary proceedings (Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act).
Religious facilities
Grove City College was initially affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, but it is no longer tied to a particular Christian denomination. Students are not required to sign a statement of faith, but they are required to attend a certain number of chapel services per semester, including during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Harbison Chapel has been the longstanding campus facility for Christian services. In 2012, Rathburn Hall was built to function as office space for chapel staff, meeting space for religious groups, and a lounge area for visiting speakers.
Groups and organizations
GCC hosts approximately 150 Student Organizations and Activities. Among them are:
* Orientation Board (OB) – welcomes the incoming students beginning on move-in day and throughout the year. The group also plans and holds numerous events the first week freshmen arrive on campus.
* Swing Dancing Club – Encourages the continuation of classic dance in the youth of today.
* Student Government Association – acts as the primary communication link between the students and the administration. Members are elected by the student body.
* Wolverine Marching Band- one of the largest Division III Marching Bands in the country, this 150–175 member ensemble performs at home games, regional high school band festivals and parades, and has performed numerous times at the
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...
.
* Symphonic Orchestra – This 90 member student ensemble performs repertoire from a variety of genres including: classical, contemporary, opera, movie themes and pops. The group is composed of music majors and non majors and is directed by Dr. Jeffrey Tedford, D.M.A.
* Touring Choir – rehearses and performs a varying repertoire of choral music at locations throughout Western Pennsylvania and on its annual tour during spring break.
* Glee Club – an all-male choir founded in 2008 that performs music on and off campus ranging from contemporary a capella music to hymns and worship music concluding the year with an annual concert in the spring semester.
* Stonebridge – brings Christian and non-Christian artists to campus and facilitates concerts.
* Project Okello – the group's purpose is to be an instrument of hope, healing and Christ’s love to the people of Uganda through prayer and action.
Publications and media
* ''The Bridge'' – yearbook published in the fall.
* ''The Collegian'' – newspaper published weekly.
* ''The Echo'' – arts journal published in the spring and features student poetry, prose, fiction, photography and artwork.
* ''The Entrepreneur'' – promotes free market economics through student and faculty articles.
* ''The Journal of Law and Public Policy''
* ''The Quad'' – magazine published quarterly and contains the written works of students, faculty, and alumni. Features creative nonfiction, book reviews, essays, fiction, and some poetry.
WSAJ radio
Assigned its call letters in April 1920, the Grove City College radio station, WSAJ-AM, was one of the first radio stations in the country. The call-letters were predated by experimental stations at the college dating back to 1914. In 1968, WSAJ-FM was put on the air and currently broadcasts at 91.1 MHz, functioning as a learning tool for all students, but especially those in the communication and engineering majors. The 100-watt AM station, operating from a longwire antenna on 1340 kHz, was one of the few remaining stations in the US to share time. It surrendered its broadcast license in 2006. The 1,600-watt FM signal covers a 30 mi radius in Western Pennsylvania. The station broadcasts fine arts programming, college football and basketball games. It also airs community events and high school sports. Students host weekly music shows during the evening hours when school is in session.
Fraternities, sororities, and housing groups
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradu ...
live on campus, in pre-selected upperclassman halls. Grove City's fraternities and sororities are local and are not affiliated with any of the national
Greek umbrella organizations.
Many of the social fraternities and sororities were established in the early 1900s and are among the country's oldest local fraternities and sororities. Over the years, other sororities and one fraternity, Chi Delta Epsilon, have ceased to exist. The most recent sorority to become defunct was the short-lived Delta Chi Omega, which was founded in 1980 and lasted approximately one decade. Sigma Sigma Sigma, founded in 1917, changed its name to Zeta Zeta Zeta (Tri-Zeta) in 1989 in response to threats of trademark infringement litigation from the national sorority
Sigma Sigma Sigma. Other fraternities and sororities have died out (meaning all their active members graduated or left the college) but have been reinstituted via block classes that assumed the organization's name, traditions and practices.
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. The annual All Campus Sing, formerly called Greek Sing, includes fraternities, sororities, housing groups, and independent groups and remains a popular competition occurring during Parents Weekend on the campus every year.
Athletics
![GroveCityWolverines](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/GroveCityWolverines.png)
Grove City has been fielding athletics teams for over a century. In 1906, they were one of the 39 charter members of the IAAUS, the forerunner of the NCAA.
Grove City College, known athletically as the Wolverines, competes in the
Presidents' Athletic Conference
The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. Th ...
(PAC) of
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...
. On the varsity level, Grove City College has football,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
cross country,
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
, soccer,
cheerleading
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
, swimming,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
, and
track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
teams for both men and women.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
,
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
,
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
are varsity sports available to men only, while
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
, and
water polo
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...
are varsity sports offered to women only. In April 2016, men's lacrosse was announced as the 22nd varsity sport and will begin in the 2018 spring season as a member of the Ohio River Lacrosse Conference (joint venture between presidents' Athletic Conference and Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference).
Grove City also offers a number of club sports to men and women including but not limited to ultimate, and
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
for men and
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
,
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
, and
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
for women. These teams have been very successful, most notably the men's club volleyball team, which has finished in the top 10 in the country each of the last two years, the men's lacrosse team, which finished in the top 10 in the country in 2015, and both the men's and women's rugby teams which have been ranked in the top 10 in the country by the National Small College Rugby Organization.
Intramural sports for men are as follows: basketball,
bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
, dodgeball, football, soccer, softball,
table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
, tennis,
ultimate
Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album)
* ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album)
*''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds
*''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...
, and volleyball. Women have
badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
, basketball, bowling,
flag football,
indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...
,
kickball,
racquetball, ultimate, and volleyball.
Grove City has several teams with remarkable PAC Championship records. Grove City's women's tennis team had won 25 consecutive PAC championships from 1987 through 2011 and the men's tennis team won 26 consecutive PAC championships between 1990 and 2016. In addition, the women's cross country team has won 27 consecutive PAC championships (1989–2015). The men's swim team also has 5 consecutive PAC championships, 2008–2012, while the women won 10 consecutive PAC championships from 2009 to 2018. Also notable is the overall swim team record of 61 consecutive winning seasons, from 1952 to 2012.
In 2018, the schools assistant sports information director was charged with nearly 100 counts for crimes ranging from privacy violations to possession of child pornography after it was discovered he had been secretly recording students who were showering in the college's locker room.
People
Notable alumni
*
David M. Bailey
David M. Bailey (February 26, 1966 – October 2, 2010) was an American singer-songwriter. He released over 20 albums between 1997 and 2010, primarily playing acoustic folk.
Biography
David M. Bailey was the son of Presbyterian missionaries a ...
– guitarist, singer-songwriter
*
Jc Beall –
analytic philosopher,
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
ian, and
analytic theologian. Holder of the O'Neill Family Chair of Philosophy,
Notre Dame. Author of ''Logical Pluralism'' (Oxford: 2004), ''Spandrels of Truth'' (Oxford: 2009), ''Formal Theories of Truth'' (Oxford: 2018), and pioneer of Contradictory Christology in ''The Contradictory Christ'' (Oxford: 2021).
*
Peter Boettke
Peter Joseph Boettke (; born January 3, 1960) is an American economist of the Austrian School. He is currently a professor of economics and philosophy at George Mason University; the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, vice president for ...
– professor of economics at
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
and editor of the Review of
Austrian Economics
*
Edward D. Breen
Edward D. Breen (born c. 1956) is an American business executive. He is the Executive Chairman of DuPont. Prior to this, he was the chair of the board and CEO of DuPont, a role he started on November 9, 2015. He also serves as a director of Comcast ...
– corporate CEO
*
Alejandro Chafuen
Atlas Network, formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking and grants for libertarian, free-market, and conservative groups ...
– author, president and former CEO of
Atlas Network
Atlas Network, formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking and grants for libertarian, free-market, and conservative groups ...
*
Larry Critchfield
Lawrence K. Critchfield (January 6, 1908 – June 30, 1965) was an American football guard who played one season in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played college football at Grove City College
Grove City Colle ...
– Former NFL player
*
Arthur Schwab – U.S. federal district court judge and GCC adjunct professor
*
Jim Van Eerden – entrepreneur, brand strategist, media producer, co-founder of Helixx Partners, LLC
*
George Clark Southworth
George Clark Southworth (August 24, 1890 – July 6, 1972), who published as G. C. Southworth, was a prominent American radio engineer best known for his role in the development of waveguides in the early 1930s.
Biography
Southworth was born in ...
– engineer and physicist who helped discover
waveguides, recipient of the
IEEE Medal of Honor
The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It has been awarded since 1917, when its first recipient was Major Edwin H. Armstrong. It is given for an exceptional contribution ...
(1963)
*
R.J. Bowers –
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
football player, NCAA all-time rushing leader until October 2007.
*
Scott Bullock
Scott G. Bullock is an American lawyer who focuses on property rights issues such as eminent domain and civil forfeiture. He has been President and General Counsel at the Institute for Justice since 2016, a nonprofit libertarian public interest l ...
– senior attorney and founding member of
Institute For Justice
The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a libertarian non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. It has litigated ten cases before the United States Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain, interstate commerce, public financing for e ...
*
Bill Deasy – singer-songwriter, author of the novel ''Ransom Seaborn'' (winner of the 2006 Needle Award for best novel) and former lead singer of the popular Pittsburgh-area band '
The Gathering Field'
*
Burdette "Bob" Glenn – professional baseball player and highway engineer
*
Scott Hahn – author,
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
theologian and
apologist. Professor of Theology at the
Franciscan University of Steubenville
*
Matt Kibbe – current President of Free the People and former president and CEO of
FreedomWorks
*
Mose Lantz – Former NFL player
*
Brian Leftow
Brian Leftow (born 1956) is an American philosopher specializing in philosophy of religion, medieval philosophy, and metaphysics. He is the William P. Alston Professor for the Philosophy of Religion at Rutgers University. Previously, he held the N ...
– theistic and
analytic philosopher. Holder of the Nolloth Chair in the
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...
,
Oriel College,
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Author of ''Time and Eternity'' (1991) and over fifty papers in
philosophy of religion
Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...
,
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
, and the history of
medieval philosophy.
*
Paul McNulty – former U.S. Deputy
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
and President of Grove City College
*
Gary Peters – former MLB player who played for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, earned Chicago White Sox All-Century Team honors
*
Joseph Howard Pew
John Howard Pew (1882–1971) was an American philanthropist and president of Sunoco (Sun Oil Company).
Biography
J. Howard Pew was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania in 1882 and raised as a devout Presbyterian. In 1886 Pew's father, Joseph Newton P ...
– founder and former president of
Sun Oil Company
Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations, ...
*
David J. Porter – judge on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
*
Nicholas Ranjan
Jagan Nicholas Ranjan (born 1978) is a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Education
Ranjan earned his Bachelor of Arts, ''summa cum laude'', ...
, District Judge,
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
*
Lawrence Reed
Lawrence "Larry" W. Reed (born September 29, 1953), also known as Larry Reed, is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), where he has served as the Humphreys Family Senior Fellow since May 2019. Before joining FEE, Re ...
president of the
Foundation for Economic Education
The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American conservative, libertarian economic think tank. Founded in 1948 in New York City, FEE is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a member of the State Policy Network.
FEE offers pub ...
(FEE)
*
Sean W. Rowe
Sean Walter Rowe (born February 16, 1975) is the eighth and current Episcopal Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. He is also bishop provisional of the Diocese of Western New York. On June 26, 2024, he was elected to suc ...
– Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern PA
*
Tiffany Seitz – Miss Pennsylvania 2020
*
Spike Shannon
William Porter "Spike" Shannon (February 7, 1875 – May 16, 1940) was a professional baseball player and umpire.
Shannon was an outfielder over parts of five seasons (1904–1908) with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pi ...
– former professional
baseball player
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
who played with the
St. Louis Cardinals,
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
and
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
. The
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
leader in runs scored in 1907 with the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
*
Frank Smith – MLB player, nicknamed "Piano Mover"
*
Frank Soday Dr. Frank John Soday, spent his childhood in Harrisville, Pennsylvania, before receiving a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and both a Master of Science in chemistry and a Doctor of P ...
– Chemist influential in the development of alternative uses for synthetic fiber
*
Greg Urbas – Hall of Fame wrestling coach
*
Harold Willis Dodds
Harold Willis Dodds (June 28, 1889 – October 25, 1980) was the fifteenth president of Princeton University from 1933 to 1957.
Early life and education
Dodds was born on June 28, 1889, in Utica, Pennsylvania, the son of a professor of Bible ...
– 15th president of
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
*
Howard Edward Winklevoss, Jr. – American actuary, academic and entrepreneur who has a practice in benefits management.
Notable professors
*
G.K. Beale
Gregory K. Beale (born 1949 in Dallas, Texas; also known as G. K. Beale) is a biblical scholar, currently a Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is an ordained minister in the Ort ...
– Reformed theologian and author
*
T. David Gordon – theologian of the New Testament and media ecologist
*
Guillermo Gonzalez –
astrophysicist, proponent of
Intelligent Design
Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...
*
Joshua F. Drake
Dr. Joshua F. Drake is a musicologist and hymnist and former faculty member at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. His research, writing and presentations primarily analyze the structure of 15th century Latin Christian motets, which ...
(former) – musicologist and hymnist
*
Richard G. Jewell – former president of Grove City College and former
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
director of Navigant Consulting Inc.
*
Paul Kengor – author, executive director of Grove City College's
Center for Vision and Values
*
Paul McNulty – President of Grove City College and Former Deputy Attorney General of the United States
*
Hans Sennholz – economist, proponent of the Austrian school of economics, student of
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and Sociology, sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberali ...
*
Warren Throckmorton – professor of psychology
*
Carl Trueman – Reformed theologian and historian
*
Walter E. Williams
Walter Edward Williams (March 31, 1936December 1, 2020) was an American economist, commentator, and academic. Williams was the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist an ...
– author, professor and former Chairman of Economics at
George Mason University
George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...
*
Angelo Codevilla – political scientist, author, member of Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate
*
James C. Conwell – mechanical engineer, president of
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
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)
*
Richard G. Jewell J.D. (2004–2014)
*
Paul McNulty (2014–present)
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Official athletics websiteThe Lee Edwards papersis open at th
Hoover Institution Archivesand contains his research on Grove City College.
{{authority control
Educational institutions established in 1876
Universities and colleges in Mercer County, Pennsylvania
1876 establishments in Pennsylvania
Nondenominational Christian universities and colleges in the United States
Liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania
Private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania