A Glimpse of Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania

In the midst of the current going-to-college frenzy, I thought I would describe my current college, Grove City. Founded in 1876 by Isaac C. Ketler, Grove City College is a Liberal Arts college based on a Christian foundation. Grove City College is, in fact, in Grove City, Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh and is comprised of roughly 2400 students.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about Grove City's Christian atmosphere is a purposeful reluctance by faculty to force any sort of spirituality or belief system on students. No one, when applying or attending, needs to sign any sort of statement of faith. However, students are required to attend sixteen chapel services, roughly twenty minutes in length, each semester. But beyond that the decision rests with the student.

Quite frankly, the student base is about 85% professing Christian, and the real "spiritual core" of the campus rests within student organizations, groups, housing blocks and ministries.

Grove City College is one of the cheapest colleges in the nation for it's extremely high-quality education. Running about $17,000 a year, Grove has managed to thrive without any government funding or intervention, allowing the school to run itself as it pleases and has thus become a very engaging environment and well-oiled machine.

Although Grove City College has very strong programs in every major offered, the truest academic strengths lie is Grove's Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Pre-Med, Education, Spanish and Economics departments. I myself am a History and Psychology double-major and have been incredibly satisfied with both the intensity and enjoyment inherent in my courses. The professors at Grove City College are all acclaimed and well-trained and strive to follow excellence in the classroom.

Grove also boasts a strong and active Greek life on campus, although there is no connection to any national fraternities or sororities. Many of these "independent" Greek groups have been in existence for nearly one hundred years at Grove City. There are also currently nine male "housing groups" which are best described as fraternities that do not pledge or rush, that is, there is little to no initiation and, frankly, have less dues and fines to pay.

I am a member of Alpha Epsilon Chi, or AEX, a male housing group in the second floor of the Lincoln dormitory. Overall, most frats, sororities and housing groups are focused on a strong Christian foundation and center, as I had referred to earlier. However I cannot say that every group is this way. There are a few exceptions in all areas of housing - fraternities, sororities and housing groups alike - that deviate from this mold. Yet they are in the minority, wishing to emulate national groups.

Perhaps the most interesting student organization, which I have had the privilege of being a member, is the Orientation Board, or OB. OB strives to transition all incoming Freshmen, Transfers and Commuters into Grove City College's campus, classes and overall atmosphere by undergoing intense and expansive planning to welcome new students in the fall. OB is comprised of five committees: Social, Outreach, Co-Rec, Religious and Publicity - all focusing on different facets of one mutual goal, to honor Christ and do the best to befriend and welcome incoming students. Orientation Board is Grove City College's largest and best-known student organization, comprised of some 110 active members.

Overall, I would recommend Grove City College to everyone I meet, but of course that does not mean that everyone will end up attending. However, I do recommend this college on the basis of real and passionate strength of academics and a very fun and engaging campus life filled with numerous opportunities to get involved.