Category: Campus Life

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Campus Organization Spotlight: The Management Association

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 many small organizations and clubs offered on campus.

The Grove City Management Association (or just Management Association for short) is a medium-sized organization, which is attempting a major comeback. This organization had faded into extinction in recent years, but a group of officers and faculty have brought it back to life. With around 40 current members, the Management Association is looking to continue to maintain a standard of excellence for years to come.

The purpose of the Management Association is to “provide the students of Grove City College of any major with opportunities to develop their practical management and business skills” explained current Management Association VP Liam Von Berg. “We do this by hosting guest speakers and putting together events for professional development, such as last year’s Ethics Panel where five alumni from Grove City came and spoke about ethics in the workplace and their various stories of ethical dilemmas,” he added.

Von Berg recalled one story told at the Ethics Panel that particularly stuck with him. “One guy spoke about his time as a car rental sales rep and how he wouldn’t rent a car to a woman because she didn’t meet [the] criteria. His boss told the lady she could have the car anyway, despite not meeting company standards, and she ended up stealing the car and burning down an ex boyfriends house!” Not all of the stories were so dramatic, Von Berg added, “But there was a good amount of talk regarding the gray areas that we face in everyday work.”

Other events put on by the Management Association include a fall party, booths at organization fairs, and smaller club meetings. At these meetings, they sometimes have business owners (for example, Kory Kay, a Chick-fil-A operator) come in to tell their story and give advice to the members. In addition, one of the most exciting events that they have planned is a tour of a FedEx plant.

The Management Association also has big plans to put on a “Women in the Workplace” event, hosting some of Grove City’s own female faculty to discuss various scenarios that they faced in the workplace and how they handled them.

One unique aspect about this organization is that membership is not exclusively reserved for “Business” or “Management” majors. Any student who is looking to develop their business or management knowledge is welcome to join.

Membership is pretty simple, as they are always looking for new members to grow the organization. All prospective students interested in any field of business or management are encouraged to check out the Management Association upon arrival at Grove City.

 

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Campus Organization Spotlight: The Student Athletic Advisory Committee

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 many small organizations and clubs offered on campus.

The Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) is made up of student athletes who act as a voice in Division III athletics for the 20 varsity athletic teams at Grove City. Each varsity team has two members on the committee, totaling 40 members. I am one of the varsity Men’s Soccer team’s committee representatives, and I also act as the SAAC treasurer.

The Student Athletic Advisory Committee is a national organization that stems across all three divisions of collegiate athletics. The committee is broken up into three levels: national, conference and campus. The national committee meets to discuss new legislation for collegiate athletics that our campus SAAC then gets to vote on. The conference committee addresses issues within their individual conference. The conference committee that Grove City is in, the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC), consists of one representative from each school in the conference. Lastly, there is the campus committee, which consists of the two representatives from each varsity team.

The mission of the SAAC is “to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting student-athlete welfare and fostering positive student-athlete image.” The Grove City SAAC accomplishes this in a multitude of different avenues.

First, representatives get to offer their input and ultimately vote on rules, regulations and other policies that affect student athletes. Whether that be on the national, conference, or campus level, each representative acts as the spokesperson for their team when new legislation gets brought up.

SAAC representatives also put on events to raise support for athletic teams. Those events look different for different teams. These events include tailgates, swim parties, theme nights at games, and offering prizes for attendance.

Another task of the SAAC is to build a sense of community within the program of athletics at Grove City. One way they do this is by giving each athletic team a “buddy team” of the opposite gender. For example, Women’s Water Polo may be paired up with Men’s Basketball. That buddy team is supposed to support the team they are paired with as best as they can. Whether that be getting the whole Men’s Basketball team to go to water polo games with their chests painted, or simply writing them good luck notes before games, these pairs provide more intentional and personal support.

The SAAC also helps organize community service efforts. These efforts could be raising money for a family in need, Christmas caroling, or decorating cookies for a local nursing home, the SAAC is always looking to help better the community.

The Grove City SAAC has really had a great impact on me over the past two years. I have seen how much it means to a team when the SAAC helps get hundreds of students to one of their games. Being on the soccer team myself, there is no better feeling than having a packed house. Also, having a voice in national, conference and campus endeavors is a great feeling. It shows that Division III athletics really cares about the needs and opinions of their student athletes.

The SAAC meets monthly to discuss legislation, upcoming events and other news around the conference and campus. If you are looking to potentially be a student athlete at Grove City, you could represent your team with the SAAC one day!

 

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Inside Grove City Ministries – DRIVE

Grove City College prides itself on incorporating faith into its academics and extracurriculars. One of the notable aspects about the College includes its variety of campus ministries. Students can choose to be a part of the Redbox Ministry, the International Justice Mission, or they can go on an Inner-City Outreach. A lot of these ministries focus on spreading the gospel to cities around the world, but one group has a slightly less traditional approach.

DRIVE is a ministry group on campus that tells the gospel through silent dramas performed to music. Their acronym stands for “Dramas Reaching Inner Cities through Visual Evangelism.” They minister to those living in inner cities near the College, including Youngstown, Pittsburgh and New Castle. Every few months they go to one of these cities to perform their dramas. When not doing dramas on the streets or in shelters, DRIVE holds a few on campus events a year. At least once a semester, DRIVE members do “flash mobs” where they spontaneously start doing dramas somewhere on campus. They also plan to host a “DRIVE”-in theatre event where students can view the dramas and get to understand the group’s mission better.

I sat down with some of DRIVE’s student officers and members to ask them some questions about the group and what they stand for. Because the group is so unique and focuses on off campus ministry, not everyone knows what DRIVE truly accomplishes.

The biggest theme I noticed in the answers to the questions was one of community.

During all of the interviews I filmed, everyone talked a lot about the community in DRIVE and how it not only drew them in, but kept them coming back to meetings. The mission of the group centers around giving back to communities, both spiritually and practically. Several of the members and officers give insight into this and into what being in the group is like.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QWLWfAQKoE

 

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The Truth Behind Sororities on Campus: Sigma Theta Chi

Sigma Theta Chi sorority sisters of Grove City College

Sigma Theta Chi, also referred to as the Sig Thets, is one of eight sororities on Grove City’s campus. Junior Sig Thet Samantha Funderlich only has wonderful things to say about her experience joining this sorority.

When asked to describe her sorority in three words, Samantha said, “The sisters of Sigma Theta Chi are loyal, sincere, and fun.” I could not think of a more accurate description for the Sig Thets. Sig Thet members are striving to uphold the ideals in their constitution as well as create a space for disciple making in the sorority. Samantha expressed how her group on campus has affected her walk with Christ when she said, “…I have become a better person and a strong Christian, specifically through the women in my family line. I would not have asked for a better experience at Grove City College.”

Sigma Theta Chi sorority sisters of Grove City College
Junior Samantha Funderlich and her fellow Sigma Theta Chi sorority sisters enjoying the Grove City sun.

In addition, Samantha described her experience and what that has been like since being an active member of the group, commonly referred to as “actives.” She said, “Since my first experience with the girls, I have formed deep friendships and mentor relationships with the other actives. Having all of the older actives pour advice and love into our relationships was a great experience being a junior, I have loved every part of being able to guide the younger women to becoming who God wants them to be.”

Grove City provides its students with ample opportunity to find community, discipleship, and life-lasting friendships. One way to find all three of these things is by joining Greek life on campus. Sororities at Grove City give students the chance to meet new people, specifically through the process called Rush. Not only are these groups at Grove City incredible for community within the group, but Greek Life is also amazing for community building with other groups on campus. Samantha Funderlich has experienced this first hand through joining the Sigma Theta Chi. Samantha would recommend joining a sorority because “they are great for benefiting the community through philanthropy/charity work, provide you with leadership opportunities, networking through actives and alumni, and above all else: creating fun memories and relationship.”

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The Truth Behind Sororities on Campus: Gamma Sigma Phi

Sisters of the Gamma Sigma Phi Sorority

Grove City College has a multitude of sororities that students can choose from upon arrival. One of the eight sororities on campus is Gamma Sigma Phi, often referred to as Gamma Sig.

Sophomore Gamma Sig Becca Cloyd is extremely honest regarding her thoughts on sororities coming into college and more specifically her group on campus. When asked to describe how the Gamma Sigs have affected her since arriving at Grove City, Becca said, “I was very apprehensive about sororities in general at the beginning of freshman year, but on

Sisters of the Gamma Sigma Phi Sorority
Sophomore Becca Cloyd (middle) with her Gamma Sig sisters on a beautiful day at Grove City College.

ce I met the Gamma Sigs I started to really be interested. Since joining the Gamma Sigs, I have felt more love and certainty in friendships than I ever have before.”

Becca continued explaining the specifics of how the Gamma Sig sorority has impacted her faith journey as well as providing her with life-long skills. “I think that I have grown in my faith. It has also taught me a lot about community and living with people who don’t always share the same thoughts and opinions…and since I am a Management major and will have to work with people who have different views than me at some point.”

Sororities, specifically the Gamma Sigs, provide an ample amount of opportunities for girls to be welcomed into the group. Friendships that last are found within this group on campus. Becca describes her experience of how she struggled with friendships her entire life but joining a sorority and living on a hall with her fellow sisters has proven to provide relationships below the surface level.

Becca’s experience with the Gamma Sigma Phi sorority at Grove City, has provided her with the opportunity to become immersed into the student body, host events on campus, and experience mentor-ship within the group. When asked to describe the Gamma Sigs in three words, Becca says, “community, laughter, and joy.”

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The Truth Behind Sororities on Campus: Alpha Beta Tau

Sororities at Grove City College are unlike sororities at public universities. These groups on campus are closely regulated by the College, provide an ample amount of ministry opportunities, and create space for students to form life-long friendships.

There are eight sororities on Grove City’s campus. This provides a chance for students to find a group that best fits one’s personality.

Sororities at Grove City College include the Alpha Beta Tau sorority.
Junior Leah Bovard with her little Alexis King.

The largest sorority on campus is Alpha Beta Tau, also known as ABT. Junior ABT Leah Bovard has had nothing but excellent things to say about her group. When asked to describe her sorority in three words, Leah said, “Genuine, intentional, and fun-loving.” Leah then described the types of relationships that have formed since joining the ABTs and said, “I have formed so many different relationships in ABT, I have met some of my best friends. I have also become friends with people I wouldn’t have met outside of the sorority and been able to bond with people going through similar tough life events.”

Some of Leah’s best friends include her little, Alexis King. Now, a little is a new member of the sorority who is being mentored by her big, in this case Leah. The big-little relationship is set up so that the new girls in the sorority can have an upperclassman mentor them in the ways of the sorority but in life as well.

Leah was asked if she would recommend joining a sorority at Grove City to prospective students and she responded with a resounding yes. She expanded on this notion by saying, “Grove City sororities have an interesting opportunity to be a Christ-centered living community for students, something that is not seen through Greek life at most other schools.” Leah is also extremely honest about what her experience in Greek life at Grove City has been by saying, “While there will be times when you think life would be easier without it, the times where the group feels like your home away from home are exponentially greater.”

Within the Alpha Beta Tau sorority at Grove City, close-knit friendships are being born through community, fellowship, and a wide variety of girls that make up the group. The ABTs are a group of about sixty girls who are extremely welcoming, kind, and ready to lead new members in the way of Christ.

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Home Away From Home

Keys to home

There are few people as intimately involved in creating and nurturing your new home in the residence halls as the Resident Directors (RDs) and Resident Assistants (RAs). I spoke with two RDs to bring you an inside perspective on dorm life from the ones who see it all.

Meredith Gross is the Assistant Director of Residence Life and also the Resident Director of Harker Hall, one of the women’s dorms. When I asked what she thinks is the most important lesson one can take away from living in a dorm, she discussed the real life social impact of learning to live well with others. “Living in a residence hall is great! It is fun and enjoyable, you get to live with your friends and create a new atmosphere away from home, but you also get the chance to learn to live with people who are not your family,” Meredith said, talking about the joys and struggles of living with new people. She highlighted that a strong social life has a positive correlation with doing well academically, and the students who live in residence halls are learning valuable life skills like negotiation, compromise, and leadership. Meredith strongly believes that the life skills you learn as a residential student translate well to being prepared for your goals beyond graduation.

James Phillips is the Resident Director of Ketler Hall, one of the largest men’s dorms. He cited the importance of fostering true, genuine investment in students who want it, and fights to prevent a superficial sense of belonging just by nature of being in a certain dorm or hall. As James put it, “That is more my aim – not to create an artificial sense of belonging, but to give my students space to opt in if they want to. At any given time or given day, there are people in Ketler who want to listen to what they have to say.” Community is a lot more complex than we tend to realize, and difficult to put into words. James makes it a priority to let his students know that there are Resident Assistants and himself available at any time, while making it clear that he does not intend to force a sense of superficial community. It is a hard balance, but one that he carefully tends to so that his students have fulfilling community wherever and whenever they may need it.

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Eating Healthy in a Cafeteria

sara-dubler healthy food

One of the last questions prospective students typically ask when looking at a college is “how is the food”? At Grove City College, there is a wide array of options at your disposal with two separate cafeterias, and it can feel overwhelming at first. In the months leading up to my wedding this past summer, I was very careful about what I was eating, and I learned a lot about how to eat healthy in the Grove City cafeterias. Whether you have gluten allergies or you are trying to lose some weight through healthy eating, it is all possible at Grove City College.

If you have allergies or eat only vegetarian or vegan foods, Grove City is extremely accommodating. Both cafeterias have gluten free sections, with the main option being a gluten free version of what is being served at the regular stations. There are gluten-free cereals and breads, so you can make your own meal, and they are careful to not cross-contaminate any of the foods. At other stations, there are signs denoting whether the food is vegan, vegetarian, or gluten free friendly. Additionally, the salad bars are nicely separated so that you can pick and choose the kind of food that you can eat and build your own salad or other meal. Hicks has fresh chicken and beef made to order, so you can create a healthy meal with your protein of choice. MAP has Meatless Mondays, which are perfect for vegetarians and vegans looking to get a tasty meal.

Here is an example of how I ate on a given day: MAP cafeteria has an omelet station, so I would start my day with a healthy dose of protein and veggies in a green pepper, onion and spinach omelet. For lunch, I would create a grilled chicken salad at Hicks with its made to order chicken and the salad bar. Finally, I would end my day with the main meal being served and some roasted veggies with pepper. It was simple, quick, and an effective food schedule that kept me full and healthy! Grove City has loads of options, and it made my meals easy to create with the variety of foods.

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Double Varsity Sports with Gretchen Elsey

Gretchen Elsey Competing in the High Jump
Gretchen Taking a Shot on the Basketball Court

Gretchen Elsey is a sophomore here at Grove City College, majoring in Exercise Science, while also pursuing a Nutrition minor. When Gretchen is not in the classroom, you can most likely find her on the basketball court or on the track. That is correct, Gretchen plays two different sports at the varsity level for Grove City College. Gretchen is a shooting guard for the women’s basketball team, and she does mostly high jump, with a little bit of long jump for the track and field team.

Gretchen said it takes drive and discipline to play two varsity sports at the collegiate level, but she said she would not want it any other way. When I asked Gretchen about the time she must commit to both sports she said, “Basketball is definitely much more demanding because the season is so long. Our basketball team does a lot of community service projects as well so it’s not just basketball practice every day and it’s super cool to be able to reach out to the community and form those relationships. Whereas track is a little different because I miss a large majority of the indoor season because of basketball. They both take the same level of commitment though, in both sports, the team and coaches are relying on you to show up and focus in to get 1% better each day.”

Gretchen said she had always planned on playing two varsity level sports when she decided to come to Grove City College. I asked Gretchen if she prefers one sport over the other and she said, “That’s a tough question because they are so different. Track is nice because its more individualized in a team setting and it’s scored as a team event, but it heavily relies on how the individual performs. Basketball is 100% a team sport and everyone needs one another to perform at its best.” Gretchen said she has recently excelled more in track, but that basketball has taught her a lot about being mentally tough, which she can carry over from the court to the track.

Advantages coming from playing two sports, according to Gretchen, are all the friends and connections that are made and being like a big family with your team. She also said playing two sports really teaches her how to manage and balance her time effectively. Gretchen said some disadvantages are having less time for relaxing and taking naps, and that trying to make plans can be difficult because there is often a lack of free time.

I asked Gretchen how she manages her time when she is in the heat of her sports seasons, and she said, “It can be challenging but having very little free time really makes you have to do your work in between classes or right after practice. I’ve always been bouncing around from sport to sport and keeping busy, so for me it’s still the same routine.”

I also asked Gretchen how she focuses on academics when she is in the thick of her two different schedules, and she said, “It can be hard at times especially when there are those weeks where it feels like you have absolutely everything due and five exams and no time to do any of it, but I know that in a few years I won’t have competitive sports anymore so ultimately, I’m here to focus on my academics because that will follow me after my college career.”

Gretchen Elsey is the 3rd on the team in 3-pointers, and a two-year letter winner for the women’s basketball team. When it comes to track and field, Gretchen is the 2018 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) outdoor high jump champion, 1st Team All-PAC, she has been named PAC Rookie of the Week twice, she has been named ECAC Rookie of the Week twice, she is the 2019 PAC indoor high jump champion, and she is the indoor record holder for women’s high jump at Grove City College.

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ICO Ecuador

Rachel and the ICO team in Ecuador (Photo Courtesy of Rachel Puls)
Rachel and the ICO team building for the locals (Photo Courtesy of Rachel Puls)

An Inner-City Outreach (ICO) trip is a mission trip where Grove City College students go out to a certain city, some in the US and some abroad, by themselves and do different missions work while also experiencing the culture of the place they are traveling to.

Sophomore Rachel Puls, who is an Elementary and Special Education major recently went on an ICO trip to Shell Mera, Ecuador from December 27th to January 7th. Rachel went to Ecuador with a group of 15 other Grove City College students. I asked her what made her decide to go on this ICO trip, and she said, “I always knew that I wanted to eventually try a missions trip, so I impulsively went to the meeting and applied and got in.”

Rachel said she absolutely loved her experience on this trip and would love to eventually go back. While there, the team built a workshop for the people living in the jungle to take classes and learn trades/skills that will help them to get jobs and sell their merchandise in the future. They also did some connecting with the Waorani Indians and people living in Ecuador as well as authentically experienced the culture and some of their traditions since they were there during New Years.

I asked Rachel if she would recommend going on an ICO trip to others, and she said, “Going as far as I did is definitely not something for everyone, but I would encourage people to try at least one in their lifetime, even if it is just in your neighboring city.  It is something that can really open your eyes to the Lord and help you to grow in ways you never thought possible.” This was Rachel’s first time going out of the country, and she said it was a great way to do it, and a way to truly experience other cultures.

She said her favorite part of the whole experience was being able to connect with so many people and not being worried about worldly or outside things, just being concerned with experiencing authentic communion together. I asked her if the trip met what she expected when signing up, and ultimately traveling there, and she said, “In some ways yes, but I also did not set many expectations and this trip went above and beyond for what I thought was going to happen and what I was going to see and experience.” She said the only downside to the whole trip was that some of the members of the group got sick toward the end, which was not the best.

Rachel said her favorite memory from the trip was when one day the team was hiking through the Amazon Jungle and she got to cut down banana trees with a machete!

Here on campus Rachel is a part of the ICO Ecuador team, and she is also a member of the Gamma Sigma Phi sorority, the Homecoming Committee, and a co-captain of the Women’s Club Lacrosse Team.