Category: Campus Events

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Grove City College Homecoming 2018

Grove City College’s Homecoming weekend is a wonderful tradition of bringing back alumni, enjoying the variety of groups on campus, and celebrating the lasting culture of the college. The Saturday morning parade showcases floats created by the different sororities and fraternities, alumni class reunions, the College’s band, Homecoming court, and much more.

As a member of Sigma Theta Chi, our sorority float was representing the Mardi Gras celebration from New Orleans, after this year’s Greek life float theme “Around the World.”

 

Our brother fraternity, the Adelphikos, were crucial to the construction of the float and made the work fun. Members played live music during the parade to give a true Mardi Gras experience.

As a sorority tradition during the parade, Senior members ride on the back of a truck for their last Homecoming as college students.

As Greek groups prepare to enter into the parade route, intermingling and laughter occur among everyone. Friends took many pictures of one another, showcasing the hard work put into their amazing floats.

After the parade, people make their way to their reunion tents, campus group tents, or leisurely walking around socializing. Grove City College’s alumni enjoyed the delicious food provided by the school, along with real conversations about their meaningful and occasional embarrassing college experiences.

The majority of Greek life was located on lower campus, while groups like the Entrepreneurship Department and reunion tents were located on the “Quad” on upper campus. Later in the afternoon, the majority of people entered the stands for the Grove City College football game. With a win of 36-33 against Westminster College in the last 11 seconds, the Wolverines were just as enthusiastic as the crowd.

After another successful Homecoming weekend filled with laughter, excitement, and reuniting of alumni with current college students, the anticipation for next year awaits.

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Career Fair 2018

Grove City College hosts a Career Fair every year, which provides an awesome opportunity for students to network for potential jobs and for employers to find potential employees. It is a win-win situation for both sides in the business world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, the college celebrated 20 years of a successful event. Last year, around 170 employers and graduate schools along with 1,200 students attended for an abundance of professional socialization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students of all years and majors attend the Career Fair. Even the freshmen who are not necessarily looking for a job; it is a great way to practice one’s elevator pitch, interview skills, and speaking ability with business people. For seniors, it can serve as the way to land a job for directly after graduation. With the event being around September every year, it can put senior students at ease for the rest of the academic year if they know they already have a job in place for post-graduation.  Even if a job is not found directly at the Career Fair, students can build relationships with business people to meet others down the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Students engage with businesses to understand their company goals, meanings, and morals. With a variety of businesses showcased at the Career Fair linked to specific majors, like Accounting, Finance, Engineering, Business, Biblical and Religious Studies, and more, students have the ability to meet their potential employer or network to eventually reach another company.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, the Career Fair is a wonderful way to look for jobs. Even if it does not specifically cater to a specific major or job interest, making connections with people can be the start of finding the perfect career. Many students can attest to the potential of Grove City College’s Career Fair with the ability to connect people and expand one’s professional circle into the real world after college.

 

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Event Review: AEX Fall Party

On Saturday, Oct. 6, the men’s housing group Alpha Epsilon Chi (AEX) hosted its annual Fall Party from 7:30-11 p.m. Dr. Dudt, a biology professor at Grove City College, graciously offers his farm as the location of the event.

The event is widely known for its oversized bonfire, where at times nearby surrounding trees are charred from the heat and flames. During the day, many students are often busy with Homecoming festivities, whether it is with another group they are part of or with spending time with their own family, so the event is a great way to wind down a packed day.

The guys purchase apple cider from Emmett’s Orchard, a nearby apple orchard, for attendees to consume while chatting with their friends around the fire. While it does not seem like anything overly special other than being a large bonfire, the event is designed to foster community by having a fun and safe night to hang out off campus with friends.

In the midst of the event, there is an interesting tradition that takes place each year: a story telling time featuring a character named “Wakajankaga.” The tradition was started several years ago by a past group member who was incredibly theatrical and talented enough to make up the entire story on the spot. The time is meant to be a comedic relief, and a sort of “halftime show” to pull all of the attendees in to focus on one thing for a moment. This year’s rendition was special, as the group decided to conclude the character’s story arc, opening the door for new possibilities for a story for next year.

The event is primarily advertised through word of mouth, social media posts, and emails to friends (only because the space can hold so many people). Throughout the night, the group estimates that about 400 people attended the event, making it one of the higher attended years that this event has taken place.

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SGA Homecoming

Grove City College’s annual Homecoming was Oct. 6, and brought thousands of alumni and families back to campus, along with the families of current students. While many students and alumni attend these events to connect, whether from their fraternity, sorority, or housing group, Student Government Association (SGA) partakes in the festivities due to their wide-reaching network on campus. Regardless of other commitments as a student, SGA is one that can be held concurrently with many other positions, which creates a unique opportunity to get a wide range of students involved with the organization. As a result, SGA has a tent on upper campus for fellow SGA alumni to stop by, while the current members mingle.

Current student members also participate in the Homecoming parade each year. Apart from decorating their truck and float, they also throw candy into the crowd as they drive through the parade. With all of the children on campus for this event, this is easily one of the best parts, getting to see the smiles on all of their faces getting candy. Once the parade is over, SGA members take a shift at their tent to hand out caramel apples for attendees.

SGA orders 600 apples to hand out and hundreds of bottled waters, which worked out well because this year the weather was warmer than usual. The caramel apples are always a hit with attendees, as SGA usually runs out before the entire duration of the event is even over.

Each year, it is always interesting to hear stories from alumni that were on SGA during their tenure as students. Even the College’s own President McNulty served as the SGA Vice President of Social Affairs while he was a student here. These stories would most likely not be heard without the opportunity for SGA to participate in the Homecoming festivities each year.

 

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Event Review: Meat and Greet

“It’s that time…Meat time” read the posters advertising the main draw for this event: free steak. While the dining halls unfortunately do not serve steak, the Delta Rho Sigma (Buffalos) housing group and Nu Lambda Phi (Nu Lamb) fraternity teamed up to bring the people what they asked for at the beginning of the semester.

On Sept. 14, the two groups held the event dubbed “Meat and Greet,” where free steak, burgers, and hot dogs were freshly grilled for attendees. As part of an excellent advertising campaign that educated the student body on what the event actually is, this motivated students to get a free dinner away from the dining halls as a change of pace.

Addison Hockins, the social chair of the Buffalos recorded a total of 850 student attendees throughout the entire night, a record setting attendance count for the event. The group found it necessary to keep track of attendance to ensure that each attendee could receive their fair share of steak, which equated to be four ounces worth of meat. When this is paired with the hot dogs, hamburgers, and chips available, this proved to be quite the sizable dinner on a Friday night.

This year, the cookout was held in front of Rockwell on upper Quad. The groups also added live music with student bands performing at the bottom of Rockwell steps to add the extra element needed to keep students at the event to hang out. The bands played setlists filled with hit songs that kept the student body engaged with the atmosphere.

The event had enough food to last through the night, but unfortunately the steak ran out early due to the rapidly growing demand. Looking ahead to next year, the groups will be bringing this event back with only one change: more steak.

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Event Review: OmiCron Lawn

On Sept. 15, the Omicron Xi (Okie) fraternity and Sigma Phi Omicron (CRON) housing group teamed up to throw a tailgate cookout on lower campus in preparation for the annual night football game. This was the fifth time the event has taken place to show school spirit for the game.

The event was a classic tailgate cookout: grills in place to cook burgers and hot dogs, cornhole sets, spikeball games, volleyball, and bocce ball rounds all acted as a draw to get students to come down to lower campus. Grove City experienced beautiful weather for the event, which usually acts as a huge draw to get students outside to hang out with their friends.

Dan Gibson, president of the Okies, estimated there were about 500 students present for the cookout. Toward the end of the event, to mark its conclusion, the Wolverine Marching Band came down Rainbow Bridge and warmed up a few songs with the crowd before everyone made their way to Thorn Field to take the stands to cheer on the Wolverines.

This cookout concluded a three-day series of cookouts on Grove City College’s campus. While all three were unrelated and catered to different demographics of students, many found it as a great way to welcome in a new semester by spending time outside with their friends, enjoying the nice end of summer weather and their friends’ company.

Although Grove City fell to Case Western in the football game, the student section was rowdy to cheer on the Wolverine football team. The night game is one of the best attended football games each year due to the unique atmosphere it creates for students and families in the community. The postgame celebration featured fireworks, and although the team did not secure a victory, the campus certainly won by having a day filled with community, camaraderie, and school spirit.

 

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Event Review: Fall Fest 2018

Saturday Sept. 22 featured the 4th annual Student Government Association (SGA) Fall Festival. The event is designed to welcome students back to campus as part of a new semester by bringing everyone together to experience part of what makes the community at Grove City College so special.

This year, the event was held on the Quad, a departure from lower campus, which is where it has been held in the past. The event featured 47 group organization sponsored carnival-style booths with a carnival style game to go along with it. These booths handed out tickets to participants to put towards redeeming prizes, which were solicited from businesses in the surrounding Grove City area. Prizes included gift cards to Collage Coffee, a local coffee shop in town, Dairy Queen coupons, pumpkin carving kits, and much more.

The event also featured inflatable games, such as an obstacle course, jousting arena, baseball throw, wrecking ball arena, etc. Finally, the event also had a petting zoo with exotic animals such as a zebra, camel, and alpaca, along with goats, cows, and pigs. The petting zoo is easily a crowd favorite each year, with the zebra and camel being the main attractions.

Grove City experienced its first fall day for the event, reinforcing the entire fall theme. A photo booth with supplies donated from Seivers Farm added the perfect setting for a quality Instagram photo on everyone’s feed.

An estimated 1,500 students packed the Quad to enjoy the festivities and celebrate a new semester at the College while enjoying the company of their fellow peers for an afternoon. While the event is a tremendous undertaking by SGA members, which requires a full day’s worth of setup and several hours of tear down, the results are tangible by witnessing firsthand the smiles on everyone’s faces that come out to the event, along with seeing professors bringing their families along to enjoy the festivities, too.

 

 

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Omicron Xi: NBA Jam

It is that time of the season again. Rush! The Omicron Xi fraternity (Okies) is hosting its very first rush event infamously called the NBA Jam. So put on your biggest jerseys, hike those ankle socks up, and come to jam. This great event gives students a way to get to know one of the many fraternities on Grove City Colleges campus. The night is packed full of games, laughter, and much more.

The night is for those interested in rushing a fraternity on campus. Even if you do not know what a fraternity is, still come! It is a guaranteed good time on campus to get away from the busyness of homework assignments one might have. The NBA Jam is an event where students get to face off against each other and current actives in the Omicron Xi fraternity. The game was first produced in 1993 and is played on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, otherwise known as the SNES. It is fun playing on ancient technology!

Through heart pounding rounds of playing people to move up on a bracket, the excitement never ends. If you do not want to participate in the NBA Jam game or unfortunately lost, fret not. There are plenty of other rooms on the Okie hall for entertainment. Matt Demember, located in room 361, is hosting a game of Gang Beasts and other activities. Ryan Motta and Robbie Weaver plan on hosting their weekly board game night in their room 353. There are plenty of rooms to stop in and say hello! Each member of the Omicron Xi fraternity welcomes every rush to join them in hanging out. With this all said, there will also be complementary food to indulge in on the hall aside from socializing and playing video games.

In all reality, the event is not like any other. It holds value to gaining friendships and spending quality time with one another. Each active in the fraternity holds this event highly to meeting new people and expect to take their time to enjoy being with rushes. So, even if a fraternity is not for you, the Okies want to welcome all to join them for a night of amusing entertainment.

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Alumni Colleen Castle Shares Advertising Career Experience with Business Students

Dr. Powell’s advertising class recently had the opportunity to Skype with alumna Colleen Castle, an Account Director at advertising company Ogilvy.

Castle is a 2009 graduate of Grove City who majored in Marketing and Communications. She was eager to share her career path experience with the class, detailing all the jobs she has had since coming to her current position, including an internship in distribution, budget organizer at L’Oreal Paris, working for Avon and Ikea. She explained that being an assistant media planner in NY with L’Oreal Paris was a good stepping stone for her. While she knew that the math-based job that required working with spreadsheets was not a permanent career path for her, it was a way to build her network and to determine where she wanted to go. She then transferred to the creative industry which involves creating advertisements.

Castle shared that one perk of this job is that she “knows a little about a lot of subjects.” She explained that working on account teams is like having a small business within a much bigger business. One of her favorite parts of the job is going on shoots and seeing the strategy and creative development come to life through film and the workings of the crew.

Castle also shared the learning process that she experienced in her jobs to the current juniors and seniors in the class. She said the onboarding process at her job consisted of learning the history of the brand, their campaign, and their plan for the next five years. She spoke on how it is important to earn trust and respect early on with both with clients and coworkers and how this might require long hours of work.

Castle dove into the subject of bringing faith in the workplace. She reminded students to not have idols in their career and how you have to be focused on people. If your goals are going to hurt others, then it is not Christ-like. She said that people often assume advertising and faith do not mix, but she believes it can when you chose to work with brands that help the world and perpetuate good values. As an alumnus, she said Grove City prepared her to bring her faith into her career. Her recommendation for current students is to find a mentor who is further down their career path and slowly build their network.

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Big Man on Campus 2018

Big Man on Campus is an event that has been happening at Grove City College every fall for the last 27 years!  Big Man is a male pageant show that raises money for the American Cancer Society.  One of Grove City College’s sororities, Sigma Theta Chi (Sig Thets), has been spearheading this fundraiser since it started.  The Sig Thets also work with the American Cancer Society in the spring semester by putting on Grove City College’s Relay for Life.  Both of these events raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society and the Grove City College community.

This year, I am the Chair and main representative for Big Man on Campus.  This fall, the event will be held on Friday, November 2nd from 7 to 10 p.m. in Crawford Auditorium.  Ten to 15 male student volunteers, usually ranging from sophomores to seniors, participate in the pageant show.  Every girl in the sorority is responsible for reaching out to friends and spreading the word that the Sig Thets are looking for guys to participate.  We try to recruit guys that are upperclassmen and in a Greek group on campus.  They attract larger crowds to the event like their own fraternity brothers or housing groups.

The event encompasses multiple portions throughout the night.  There is a formal wear, swimwear, talent, and question portion that each contestant goes through during the competition.  The talent and question portion come after intermission.  The ‘Big Men’ usually have to be pretty confident for these segments of the show.  Talents have ranged from playing musical instruments, singing, building a tent, to coloring a picture.  The audience usually prefers the more humorous talents (like coloring a picture).  Every year we have three to four faculty members here on campus judge the ‘Big Men’.  Once every boy has gone through all of the portions of the show, a Sig Thets collects the judges’ sheets and tallies up the points each boy earned.  The audience also gets one ticket when they come to Big Man and can use this ticket at the end of the show to vote for their favorite Big Man participant.

The winner receives a sash, crown, the title of “Big Man on Campus”, and a $50 Sheetz gift card.  All of the proceeds from the pre-sale and the ticket money we collect the day of the show go directly to the American Cancer Society.  Speaking on behalf of the Sigma Theta Chi sorority, we love doing this fundraiser every year.  It is good publicity for the sorority and the second biggest fundraiser on Grove City College’s campus (Relay for Life being the first).  For the freshmen, it is a great event to attend.  It gives students something to do on a Friday night and exposes them to upperclassmen and members of fraternities on campus.  We always hope for a large crowd to come out, watch the fun event, and participate in supporting the American Cancer Society and the Sigma Theta Chi sorority.