Campus Organizations Archives

Posted on September 15, 2019September 24, 2019 by hessmj1 — Leave a comment

Campus Club Spotlight: Scherzo!

On Friday September 13th, the Grove City College men’s vocal ensemble Scherzo! (formerly the Men’s Glee Club) had their second set of open auditions for anyone interested in becoming a member of the club. After holding a handful of open rehearsals, bringing in eight for auditions, Scherzo! accepted four new members joining the club.

What does this year look like for “Scherzo!“?

Beginning the year with a new name and a new group of singers, there are many changes in store for the club and their upcoming repertoire of performances. Making an effort to move away from a number of their expected gigs, the group will be taking on performances in all new venues and organizations around the Grove City community with a plethora of new pieces guaranteed to represent the fresh start the group is undergoing.

What led the group to change their name?

The decision for the name change was long discussed within the group due to the normal connotation of the name Glee Club with the popular show “Glee,” which aired on FOX television. The group decided it would be best for their vocal ensemble not to be directly compared to the TV series due to very different approaches to what an acapella group looks like, as well as the various drama which the show dealt with. Scherzo! is an acapella group mainly focusing on the quality and range which a group of male singers can produce when solely focusing on the music itself, where the TV series is much more focused on the production as well as vocals. Seeing that Scherzo! is not a production centered group, they came to the conclusion that the best thing to do to help public perception of what the group truly is, would be to change up the name to something more intriguing and less correlated with a widely known series.

Scherzo! will hold their annual concert, containing their whole repertoire of music, in May 2020.

Posted on May 21, 2019May 21, 2019 by Laura Locher — Leave a comment

The Collegian: What it is Like to Edit a Newspaper at Grove City College

Grove City College offers students who enjoy writing and editing many opportunities to utilize their skills, such as working for The Collegian, Grove City’s campus newspaper.

Sophomore Britney Lukasiewicz is a copy editor for The Collegian at Grove City College. Britney has had experience in copy editing prior to attending Grove City, thus, when coming to campus she knew that copy editing was something she wanted to continue pursuing.

When asked how The Collegian has affected Britney since arriving on campus, she responded, “Being a part of the newspaper has given me a chance to meet new people and learn more about journalism.” Additionally, Britney describes the responsibilities of a copy editor for the school newspaper along with the time commitment in joining The Collegian in this specific position. She says, “Copy editors get an assignment sent to them each week of what type of articles they will edit (sports, entertainment, etc.) and then they get a day or two to correct them…Joining The Collegian is an easy way to get more involved with the campus, and it does not require a lot of time out of the week to complete.”

From Britney’s perspective, working for The Collegian as a copy editor is not all together a time-consuming task, however, it is incredible experience in the field of work she wants to pursue after graduating from Grove City. Britney explains how working for the Collegian, in any capacity, is a great way to dip your toes into the world of editing and/or publishing. She describes how working for the campus paper is not an overbearing time commitment, but the job does teach you valuable lessons in the world of writing, editing, and publishing.

All in all, working for The Collegian at Grove City College, provides students with the opportunity to gain experience in their field, while not being overwhelmed with an overbearing time commitment alongside of being a full-time student.

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Erica Kolson — Leave a comment

The Swing Dance Club

The Grove City College Swing Dance Club is an organization on campus whose aim is to teach students the fundamentals of swing-style dance. The club is part of the Partner Dance Organization on campus that also includes the Ballroom Dance Club. The Swing Dance Club meets weekly on Wednesdays at 7:30 to cover a half an hour of new instruction followed by an hour of free dance, in order for members to practice their skills. The club organizes and hosts one special dance a semester which is open to the entire student body. In the fall semester, the club organized a very successful dance called the Blacklight Dance. In the above video, the officers of the club share what makes swing dancing such a fun activity.

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Erica Kolson — Leave a comment

Women’s Rugby Team

https://youtu.be/Hy-Of7vottk

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to the members of the Grove City College Women’s Rugby Team. The team is considered a club team. This means that they compete against other colleges but are not an official varsity sport. The girls on the team come from a variety of years and majors, but all say they have grown really close throughout their season last fall and continual conditioning to prepare for the future seasons. While several of the players take part in other sports at Grove City or have in the past, many of the players had not tried rugby before joining this group. They were enthusiastic to talk about their unique sport and successful games.

Posted on April 24, 2019April 16, 2019 by Brooks Thomas — Leave a comment

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.

Posted on April 23, 2019April 16, 2019 by Brooks Thomas — Leave a comment

Campus Organization Spotlight: The Student Athletic Advisory Committee

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!

Posted on April 20, 2019April 16, 2019 by Hannah Hammersley — Leave a comment

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

Posted on April 13, 2019April 4, 2019 by Laura Locher — Leave a comment

The Truth Behind Sororities on Campus: Gamma Sigma Phi

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

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.”

Posted on April 12, 2019April 4, 2019 by Laura Locher — Leave a comment

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.

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.

Posted on April 8, 2019April 2, 2019 by Samantha Funderlich — Leave a comment

Sorority Spotlight: The Sisters of Sigma Delta Phi

Elizabeth Becherer, a junior accounting and finance major, is an active student at Grove City College. She has a radio show on WSAJ-FM 91.1 in the evenings, participates in weekly meetings and events with SEAD (Students Excited About Diversity), is a member of the accounting society, and, since freshmen year, is an active member of the Sigma Delta Phi sorority. The students who join Greek Life are more than their affiliation, but Greek Life is always interesting to learn about. I sent Elizabeth some questions regarding her sisterhood. Here are her responses:

How is Sigma Delta Phi unique?

The sisters of Sigma Delta Phi (known as the “D’phis” on campus) are a down-to-earth group of girls. I think most of us would agree that our favorite memories of sorority life are just of hanging out on the hall with our sisters. A lot of us are a little introverted, so rush events are not necessarily our favorite thing (but you do not have to be bubbly to be in a Greek group). In general, we are a small group of diverse and independent girls who enjoy coming together to relax and enjoy each other’s company and the sorority gives us a chance to do just that.

What philanthropy does your sorority participate in every year?

The D’phis are always looking for ways to stay involved on campus. For years, we have hosted a series of fundraisers to raise money for the Pittsburgh Project. Each year, we hold a rose sale, candy cane sale, and casino-style game night to benefit their after-school and summer programs for urban youth. More recently, we have also been working with the Grove City Area Pet Rescue and often take groups down to the shelter to visit the pets and clean.

What was your experience like as a rush (someone who participates in activities to join a Greek group)? How is being an active member of a group?

To be completely frank, I did not like the rush process much at all. It can be draining to meet so many people in such a short time, and interactions can begin to feel impersonal. That being said, if you can weather that social whirlwind, things get so much more fun. I am constantly with supportive girls who help me feel involved and make college fun. I also have a great group of friends that I can bring to volleyball games, my radio show, meals, church, and whatever else we get up to each week.

How has your sorority grown you over the past three years?

We are a smaller group of girls, and that means a lot can change in a few years. Everyone in our group receives a chance to be involved in its direction because everyone takes some sort of a position. I have seen the group become much more conscious of taking girls who will be a positive influence on the group. We also want them to add their unique talents. It has been so much fun to grow close to each year’s new actives and see what new perspectives they bring. These girls have grown me by presenting me with the responsibility of respecting everyone’s perspective and engaging with the different ideas.

What would you tell a prospective student who is considering rushing?

Be open to it! A lot of people have definitive opinions of Greek life at Grove City. Most of them are negative. Even if you are not sold on being in a sorority, I think it is a good idea to try. On a small campus like ours, it can be a great way to be involved. Do not knock it until you have tried it!

*To attain eligibility to join Greek Life you must have a 2.0 grade point average. You also must be a full time student (at least 12 credits per semester).