When prospective students think about college, many times their minds are drawn to big things like classes, professors, sports, fraternities or sororities, and dining. However, many times the most memorable and fulfilling moments of college happen within the several small organizations and clubs offered on campus.
Roundtable is a sophomore men’s service honorary here at Grove City College. It is a group focused solely on helping serve the campus and local community. Each year, the group participates in different service projects in areas around the campus and community. Whenever and wherever members see a need, they meet to discuss how they can solve that need and then they get to work.
“So far this year,” said current Roundtable President David Hutchison, “we have done 10 different projects for faculty members, churches, and others in the community. This includes things like helping churches set up and tear down after conferences or big events, raking leaves, painting, and setting up a wheelchair ramp, among other things.”
One of the unique things about this organization is that every year the entirety of the group is comprised of new members, as this group consists of only sophomore men every year. With 23 current members serving this year, they will be replaced next year with current freshmen. Freshmen males maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or above are invited to interview toward the end of the spring semester.
Hutchison explained, “Roundtable always is focused on helping serve our campus and community, but each year the group takes on a different focus, depending on where God is leading us.”
Each year, the current Roundtable members develop their own mission statement. This year, the mission statement they have chosen is “…to serve the needs of our Grove City College professors and our local churches, while being open to wherever else help is needed.”
While participation in Roundtable is all about helping others, it can also have a big impact on the Roundtable members themselves.
“[Roundtable] has impacted who I am as a person. It helped get the focus off of myself. So often, we go through college, and life for that matter, thinking about what we need to get done, usually with only ourselves in mind. Doing service projects with these guys has really helped me step back and put things in perspective. It has been a humbling experience. Beyond this, it has made me very grateful for all the good things that I have been blessed with in my own life. It is easy to take so much for granted, but when you see the needs of others, it helps you to see the gracious gifts that God has bestowed upon us,” said Hutchison.
Roundtable is just one of the many organizations at Grove City College that is focused on serving others. However, prospective male students will have to wait until late in their freshman year to be eligible to join this honorary.
