Grove City College

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Grove City College

Image:Grove_City_College_seal.png
Motto Lux Mea
Established 1876
Type Private liberal arts
Endowment $97,300,000
President Dick G. Jewell
Provost William P. Anderson
Faculty approx. 210
Students 2,500
Location Grove City, PA, USA
Address 100 Campus Drive
Grove City, Pennsylvania 16127
Telephone 724-458-2000
Campus Rural
Colors Crimson and White
Nickname Wolverines
Mascot Willie the Wolverine
Affiliations NCAA Division III
Website www.gcc.edu

Grove City College is a very selective, 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 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 $16,000 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 is around 1300 [4].

Contents

[edit] 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.

Grove City's central quad in the spring
Grove City's central quad in the spring

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

Using their powers of influence on (voter registered) students and others in the community the staff and administration is presently campaigning on campus to have a liquor issue defeated in the Borough of Grove City. The lack of local drinking establishments causes GCC students of drinking age to drive to bars in local townships as well as rent distant social halls for their alcohol based functions.

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 banned in the 1980s, an early indicator of the school's change in organizational culture; a move away from the free-market economy mindset towards a focus on evangelical Christian principles. 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Majors

Accounting, Biochemistry, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Christian Thought, Communication, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Economics, Education, Electrical Engineering, Elementary Education, English, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Foreign Language, History, Industrial Management, Marketing Management, Math Education, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Molecular Biology, Music, Music Education, Philosophy, Applied Physics, Political Science, Pre Dentistry, Pre Law, Pre Medicine, Psychology, Science, Secondary Education, Sociology

[5]

[edit] Sports and organizations

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

[edit] 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 [6].

[edit] 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 [7].

[edit] 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.
  • Fraternities: Delta Iota Kappa, Epsilon Pi, Omicron Xi, Phi Tau Alpha, Adelphikos, Kappa Alpha Phi, Nu Lambda Phi, Pan Sophic, Sigma Alpha Sigma, Beta Sigma
  • Sororities: Alpha Beta Tau, Sigma Delta Phi, Sigma Theta Chi, Gamma Sigma Phi, Gamma Chi, Zeta Zeta Zeta, Phi Sigma Chi, Theta Alpha Pi
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.

[edit] Housing groups

Male students who do not join fraternities can obtain block housing privileges through organizations known as housing groups. There are currently nine of these groups. They are (with their nicknames): Alpha Epsilon Chi (AEX), Alpha Omega (AOs), Alpha Sigma (Alpha Sigs), Delta Rho Sigma (Buffaloes), Nu Delta Epsilon (Nu Dels), Phi Omega Sigma (Possums), Rho Rho Rho (Tri-Rhos), Sigma Phi Omicron (Crons), and Zeta Xi Omega (Zenoids). As of 2007, there have been no women's housing groups.
There has been some tension between fraternities and housing groups at Grove City College. Though their similarities in some aspects (for example, block housing and use of Greek letters) has caused confusion as to why housing groups exist, they are distinctly different organizations with different histories at the college. 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.

[edit] Housing controversy

In 2006, fraternities, sororities, and housing groups expressed their concerns and frustrations over a series of controversial housing regulations enacted by the Grove City College administration. This is referred to as the Community Living Privilege(CLP). These rules included measures such as mandatory community service and a required minimum number of members in an organization in order for a group to maintain block housing. The process involved with maintaining the Community Living Privilege for a block housing organization will take effect during the 2006-2007 academic year.

[edit] 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. The group also plans and holds numerous events the first week freshmen are on campus. The events include: street dance, graffiti dance, carnival, and other social events.
Members of OB are stereotypically very outgoing and social, but this is not always true.
The group is broken up into committees of 15-20 students. Each committee has its own group of events they are responsible for planning. The committees are Social, Religious, Outreach (formerly Academic), Co-Rec, and Publicity.
A commitment to OB includes a number of weekly committee meetings and one weekly corporate meeting. Due to this, many OB members are friends and this has caused the group to become somewhat of a social group on campus as well.

[edit] 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.

[edit] WSAJ Radio

Main article: 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 [8].

[edit] Notable alumni and professors

[edit] 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)

[edit] Traditions and trivia

[edit] 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.

[edit] "Becoming a Grover"

Explanations of this tradition vary, but it is generally understood that when a freshman female student is kissed by an upperclassman male student on Rainbow Bridge, which links Upper and Lower Campuses, she becomes an official Grover. "Grover" is also the generic term for a Grove City College student.

Rainbow Bridge
Rainbow Bridge

[edit] 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.

[edit] "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.

[edit] 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.



[edit] Campus

[edit] Academic buildings

  • Hall of Arts and Letters (HAL), where liberal arts classes meet. This building first opened in early 2003.
  • Rockwell Hall, where all science courses convene.
  • Hoyt Hall, where all engineering classes meet.
  • Pew Fine Arts Center, where most music and art classes meet, and also where one large theater and a smaller theater are located. An expansion was completed in 2002.

[edit] Residence halls

  • Mary Anderson Pew dormitory, a female residence, is divided into North Hall, West Hall, and South Hall. It contains one of the two cafeterias on campus. This cafeteria underwent a major renovation during the summer of 2006.
  • Harker Hall, a female residence.
  • Mary Ethel Pew dormitory, a female residence.
  • Ketler Hall, a male residence, is divided into East Gable, East Terrace, Central Terrace, West Terrace, and West Gable, and located adjacent to the quad.
  • Memorial Hall, a residence where only freshman males live (with the exception of six pairs of Resident Assistants).
  • Lincoln Hall, a male residence.
  • Hopeman Hall, a male residence.
  • Hicks Hall, a freshman male residence that contains the other of the two cafeterias on campus. Hicks Cafe will undergo a major renovation during the summer of 2007.
  • Alumni Hall, a male residence located on the upper floor of the Physical Learning Center.
  • Zerbe Health Center, sometimes used as a male residence in case of overflow in the dormitories.
  • Colonial Hall Apartments, an apartment building housing both male and female students (in separate wings). Colonial residents are encouraged to "step up before they step out," meaning that they given more freedoms than students in traditional dorms. Colonial Hall Apartments opened in the Fall of 2006.

[edit] Other buildings

  • Harbison Chapel, where chapel services and other events are held.
  • Crawford Hall, the college's administration building.
  • Student Union (STU or SAC), which contains the Gedunk (a food court), the Student Life & Learning Office, the mail room, and the college bookstore. It was opened in early 2004.
  • Physical Learning Center (PLC), where the basketball gymnasium, a fitness center, recreational pool and competitive pool are located.
  • Technological Learning Center (TLC), which houses the campus computer services and support, as well as a small auditorium.
  • Henry Buhl Library
  • Carnegie Hall, the alumni relations center.
  • Zerbe Health Center
  • Phillips Field House, located next to Thorn field.

[edit] Former buildings

  • Calderwood Hall, the academic building that preceded the Hall of Arts and Letters, and was demolished in early 2003.
  • Colonial Hall, an older male dormitory on the lower campus demolished in the early 1980s. The Colonial was originally a female dormitory, the counterpart to the men's Memorial Hall.
  • Memorial Hall, the original men's dormitory. It was torn down in 1996, and replaced with the new Memorial. At the time of its demolition, it was the oldest building on campus (1914).
  • Recitation hall, the original academic building. Nicknamed "Reci," it was the arts and letters building until the early 1900s.
  • Gymnasium, built in 1914. After the construction of the Wolverena, it served as a fieldhouse on lower campus, with a basketball court and showers for athletics teams.

[edit] External links


Presidents' Athletic Conference
Bethany • Chatham† • Geneva† • Grove City • Saint Vincent • Thiel • Thomas More • Washington & Jefferson • Waynesburg • Westminster
† joining mid-2007
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