Campus Organizations Archives

Posted on January 16, 2017 by justicecp1 — Leave a comment

Clubs on Campus: Part Two

If you’re interested in a particular activity, sport, or game, Grove City offers an abundance of campus-wide groups to get involved. With over 130 student organizations on campus, there are plenty of ways to join and meet great people in the process. Going off of my previous post on “Clubs on Campus Worth Trying,” here are some more student stories about the unique clubs and activities they are involved in on campus.

There are many clubs that are designed to fight for social injustices. Senior Trevor Smith is involved with LINK, a club that stands for Liberty in North Korea. This organization rescues, relocates, and rehabilitates North Korean refugees. He explained, “They find refugees…typically [upon relocation] they require education on how banks work, what electronics are – all the everyday tasks we take for granted are totally new to these refugees.” This club is known as the “rescue team.” They raise awareness of refugee crises and plan fundraising events. The “rescue team” also sells authentic South Korean snacks and drinks.

One of the larger clubs on campus is the WSAJ radio station. Students are given the opportunity to host their own radio shows and DJ new music on a live broadcast. Senior Brad Warmhold has been involved with WSAJ since freshman year. He explained, “I do radio because I personally enjoy being recorded in a live atmosphere working with music. There is a good degree of freedom in choosing music, and the fact that I get to do it with my closest friends is an added bonus.” The radio station is a great opportunity for students to learn public speaking and broadcasting skills, as well as listen to their favorite music and spread it across campus.

Junior Abby Hassinger has been passionate about horseback riding well before college began, and was excited to get involved with the equestrian club on campus. While we do not have any stables on campus, the equestrian club participates in horse shows with other schools all across the region. As the president of the equestrian club, Abby and her fellow club members co-host horse shows, as well as attend and participate in other events at nearby schools. The equestrian club participates in various types of shows that require different skill sets, allowing each student to perform in areas that are best equipped.

It is amazing to be a part of a campus that recognizes the diverse interests of its students. Each of these clubs and organizations strive to create a community where students are accepted for their interests and passions. Getting involved on campus with a club or organization is an easy way to get plugged in to student life.

Posted on January 16, 2017 by justicecp1 — Leave a comment

Clubs on Campus Worth Trying Out: Part 1

Did you know there are over 130 student clubs and organizations to get involved in at Grove City College? Not only are there the typical intramural sports clubs such as lacrosse, soccer, basketball, and volleyball, but there are also unique organizations such as euchre, fencing, hiking, and horseback riding. With all the options to play sports, sing, or learn something new on campus, students surely find a way to act on their passions to create opportunities for people with similar interests to come together.

I was able to talk with a few students about some interesting clubs they a majority of college campuses do not offer. Junior Connor Monahan is studying Mechanical Engineering and is involved with the Newman Club. Connor said, “The Newman Club is a Catholic Campus Ministry group on campus. We have weekly meetings where we bring in local speakers or campus faculty. We also participate in community service projects.” This is a club for students who are either Catholic or want to understand more about Catholicism. The Newman Club is an awesome opportunity to branch out on campus.

We also have a club focused on martial arts and various types of fighting and wrestling. Sophomore Nathan Smith is involved with this program, and explained, “The martial arts program has primarily turned into a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club. We meet every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday…we learn some new techniques, drills, and then we grapple. We have a lot of dedicated people in the club who have even joined Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academies back at their homes!” Unlike other campus groups, the martial arts program can be expanded on and off campus. According to Smith, “We recently invited my instructors from my gym back in Ohio to put on a seminar here at GCC. The program had an excellent turn out and everyone had an amazing time. We plan on doing another seminar next semester.” Martial arts programs provide students with great opportunities to include previous involvement in similar extracurricular activities into their college life.

Not all Grove City clubs are on the College’s campus. For example, the outing club meets on campus, but mainly consists of hiking, camping, and other outdoors-related activities. Senior Philip Dudt who has been involved since freshman year said, “We enjoy God’s creation on trips over breaks (backpacking especially), fellowship with friends at the club’s cabin, and lasting memories made during car rides to these remote locations we hike.” This is an ideal club for those who enjoy hiking and backpacking, and a great opportunity to get to know the area around Grove City.

With all these great organizations being offered to Grovers of all grades, it is a difficult decision to choose one specific organization. Subsequently, there will be another post discussing students’ experiences with more unique clubs. Along with what is listed on our GCC website, there are many other groups and clubs that you can learn about at the Organization Fair. The fair takes place during the first few weeks of school and provides Freshman with the chance to meet members from each club and learn about what they do throughout the semester. These are great opportunities to get involved and meet new people as you start your Grove City College career.

Posted on December 7, 2016December 7, 2016 by comptoncm1 — Leave a comment

Rockets, Lasers, and Blowing Up Pumpkins, How Can You Not Check Out the Physics Club

At Grove City, there are several clubs that are based around majors or academics. One club that is really “blowing up” is the Physics Club. I sat down with the president of the club, Mercedes Mansfield, and she told me all about how this club is really making science exciting by having hands on experiments and also building a strong community within the Physics and greater STEM departments. The Physics Club is open to all majors, but is mostly composed of STEM majors, such as Electrical Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics majors. Dr. D.J. Wagner, a professor in the Physics Department, is the faculty adviser for the club and facilitates every other week meetings.

The club has two different types of meetings, one of them being what they call “Tray’s Up,” where each member gets their meal from one of the cafeterias around campus, and then take their meal to one of the members’ rooms or one of the classrooms on campus. During this jovial time of eating their meals, each student who is a part of the club gets the opportunity to hear about Physics from other students or faculty about various research they have performed. The other times the club meets, they do various activities that highlight how exciting Physics can be! These include making hand rockets, dropping eggs from a few inches off of the ground without breaking them, bridge building competitions, and blowing up pumpkins!

The club also hosts larger events, including a hayride and an all-nighter. During their famous all-nighter, where they all stay up in Rockwell, one of the STEM buildings on campus. They begin the evening by blowing up bottles on the quad and then continue throughout the night with the less disruptive activities. These include making liquid nitrogen ice cream, do experiments led by professors, and play with lasers.

The Physics Club is just one great example of a way to get involved with you academic department outside of your classes. Joining the club is a sure way to get involved in the STEM departments and seeing real-life applications of Physics outside of the department!

Posted on November 19, 2016 by justicecp1 — Leave a comment

Media Jobs on Campus Where Students Run the Show

There are many awesome opportunities for students to work on-campus jobs to get some experience during the school year. While most are fairly low key and relaxing, other jobs allow you to get your first real-world work experience in a field that could become your long-term career. Grove City’s Media Services Office hires student technicians to work campus events such as concerts, dances, and lectures – and even run chapel services.

media services homecoming setup — Homecoming Dance Setup

As a technician and office coordinator for Media Services myself, I have had two great years of learning about media technology and working with students from many different backgrounds to create some amazing setups. With our growing team of 19 student technicians, we get plenty of opportunities to learn from one another and our different academic backgrounds.

I had the chance to interview senior Casey Latario who has been involved with media services for two years through a friends’ recommendation to apply. He enjoys working various events, but one of his favorites was setting up for the Keith and Kristin Getty Concert hosted this fall. Casey discussed, “As a biology major, I see that there are engineering techs who are super technically minded and not the best at communicating, but the other techs with different majors are better at communication and they complement each other.” Since Casey is also apart of other groups on campus, including the Adelphikos fraternity, he is able to use his talents and abilities in media production to help his fraternity out during open houses. Casey explained how he got to use the lighting truss for his fraternity open house. Because he knew how to use what they needed, it was convenient. He went on to say, “It was nice to be able to use the equipment for our group’s own events.”

While there are so many different skill sets among technicians, there is a great appeal to mechanical and electrical engineers for the hands-on experience related to their field. Senior Erik Azevedo is a mechanical engineering major who became interested in Media Services after attending a dance freshman year. “I’ve always been interested at a young age in media,” says Erik, “I also did sound for my church and enjoy making electronic music.” As a part of our learning process for Media Services, there are senior positions where students can specialize in a particular skill set like video, audio, lighting, and equipment. As the senior lighting technician, Erik prefers working larger dances or coffee concerts on campus with the freedom to run the lighting board. He said, “You get hands on experience and every event is different. You have to use skills that you learn, but there is an element of creativity to it.”

One of the best things both Casey and Erik agreed upon is the benefit of the diverse team where everyone can use their skills to put together a great show. The photos displayed throughout this post show different activities the Media Services team does on a monthly to weekly basis, including the Homecoming dance and live mixing for coffee concerts. The great thing about a campus job such as this is the flexibility in scheduling, as well as hands-on experience that is guaranteed in learning about campus events.

Posted on July 5, 2016May 3, 2016 by Shannon McDade — Leave a comment

Spotlight: Grove City College Touring Choir

If you are looking for a way to get involved on campus, the Grove City Choir Touring Choir may be a great idea for you. It is the only faculty directed audition choir on campus. Currently, we have 44 members and are directed by Dr. Katherine Mueller. I can truly say that after three years of being in this spectacular choir, it has positively impacted my Grove City College experience as much as any other group. The other 43 individuals in the choir have become my Grove City family. Before I really talk about what this choir has meant to me, I think it’s important that you get a feel for what the choir does.

Every year, during the week-long break in the spring, the GCC Touring Choir goes on tour to a specific area of the United States. This area could be anywhere. In my tenure at GCC, we have traveled to California and the west coast, NYC and PA, New England (including Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, etc.) and this year we traveled to Washington D.C. and southern areas. Much like ICO (international mission) trips, the whole break is used to move from church to church and sing concerts for local congregations. We see ourselves as a mission singing group and almost all of our repertoire is sacred music. At night, we stay in host homes from each of the churches. All of this is at no cost to the student.

Overall, this group has become my family. Each of us loves music and is committed to using our talents to achieve excellence and to glorify our Lord. It is a group of fellowship as well as hard work. I would not take back one second of my involvement in this group. What time I have given to it has been returned to me with blessings in spades. I hope that prospective students take advantage of this wonderful group and opportunity.

Posted on May 5, 2016May 7, 2016 by Nathan Chanski — Leave a comment

AEX Live Campus-Wide Music Event

Of course, most are aware of Greek Life within the Grove City College campus, and yet a significant portion of the groups on campus are very often overlooked. I’m talking about “housing groups.” Housing groups are groups of men that live together on a single hall, and operate very similarly to the fraternities on campus.

One of these housing groups calls themselves AEX, or “Alpha Epsilon Chi” which, translated from Greek, means “brothers in Christ.” These “brothers” enjoy heading up many different events on and off campus—some exclusively for the group members, and others are for the entire campus’ enjoyment.

Among the events, which includes the entire campus, is an event called AEX Live. This event features live performances from unofficial musical acts for four hours of an evening in mid-April. The only catch: each musical act must have at least one AEX man as part of their “band” that performs on stage.

AEX Live is an annual event that has become one of the biggest and most beloved by the campus community and is also held the night of April’s Junior Crimson Day! How can you go wrong with four hours of non-stop musical performances while eating free soft pretzels and root beer floats while you listen and chat with your friends?

Take a look at some photos for yourself of the 2016 AEX Live.

All photos taken by Drew Hayward, member of Alpha Epsilon Chi.

It’s like Grove City’s very own Coachella!

The best part about AEX Live is that students from all different parts of campus can get involved in the performances. All you have to do is get in touch with your friend in AEX and get the band together!

Hopefully, we might even see YOU performing at AEX Live next year!

Posted on May 2, 2016May 3, 2016 by Emily Hostetler — Leave a comment

Grove City College’s Relay for Life

Recently Grove City College’s Sigma Theta Chi Sorority and the Pansophic Fraternity hosted Relay for Life. According to the American Cancer Society, Relay for Life is a life changing event and experience that “gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to Celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, Remember loved ones lost, and Fight Back against the disease.” Every single day more and more people are affected by this awful disease, whether it is a close family member or a friend. Each year in late April these two groups come together to help make a difference in the lives of their families and friends, and quite possibly your family and friends.

Originally, Relay for Life was brought to campus in 2005 to raise support for fellow Pansophic member Brett W. Elsess who died of cancer in the early 2000’s. One of his fraternity brothers, Ryan McKracken, the Sigma Theta Chi sweetheart at the time, decided to start Relay for Life at Grove City College to help bring awareness to the fight against cancer.

This year Dillon Irwin and Taylor Lennox headed up a campaign to make this year’s Relay for Life the best one Grove City has seen thus far. The timing of the event was shortened drastically to encourage more participation throughout the event rather than just at the beginning. Also this was the first year CLP credit was available for other Greek groups, which encouraged more participation as well. For those of you who don’t know about Greek Life, CLP stands for community living privilege, basically this means that each Greek group on campus has a certain requirement of community service that they need to meet in order to stay a Greek group. Other reasons this year was different than years prior is through a more effective marketing and fundraising strategy. They started fundraising, setting up teams, and sending out support letters to family and friends in the fall. They also put up more fliers, signs, and had a dorm-storm, where flyers were placed under each students dorm the night before the event. They also gave each team that signed up more resources including letters to families for sponsorship that they could send out. Finally, they got the President of the College, Mr. McNulty, to speak during the event on how cancer has personally affected him and his family. According to Taylor, they “entirely re-branded and restructured what the event looks like to hopefully set a precedent for future relays to come.”

Reactions from students and members of the community who participated in the event were very positive. They all seemed to like the changes, especially in terms of shortening the time period of the event. It seemed to keep all of the students engaged and actively participating in each of the different events and games that were provided like the dunk tank, the corn hole tournament, the sumo wrestling mat, face painting, and so much more. While this year was definitely a memorable year for Grove City’s Relay team’s they are even more excited to continue the trend of Celebrating, Remembering, and Fighting back against cancer for years to come.

Check out Relay for Life’s website for more information!

Posted on May 2, 2016May 3, 2016 by Emily Hostetler — Leave a comment

A Quick Look at Grove City’s Inner-City Outreach Mission Trips

Every year the College helps sponsor mission trips so that students can have an opportunity to serve and use their talents and abilities to further God’s kingdom. This past year students had the opportunity to travel to places like Arizona and the Dominican Republic. In order to give you a little glimpse of the ICO Mission Trips, I wanted to briefly touch upon a few that happened over this past year.

During Thanksgiving break, the College sent out students to Rhode Island and New York City. During the New York City ICO they participated in a lot of street ministry. They spent part of everyday dedicated to interviewing people in various parks and train stations around Manhattan. They spent the beginning of their trip working with the Christian Youth Theatre (CYT) and the second half of their trip they spent time at the New York City Rescue Mission (NYCRM) helping with odd jobs around the organization. The trip itself was around $175 per person. In order to raise money for the trip, the group hosted a “Professor Bake-Off,” where some Professors submitted baked goods which were sampled and voted upon by students for $1. There were a total of eight professors that submitted baked goods and they were able to raise a couple hundred dollars in order to lower the overall price per person. And finally, in order to prepare for the trip spiritually, all the team members came together to share their testimonies, have devotions and spend time getting to know each other better before the trip transpired. On one of these nights, they had a Bonfire Worship Night in addition to their regular meetings.

During Christmas break the College sent out students to Jamaica, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Honduras. During the Jamaica ICO students worked for Robin’s Nest Children’s Home by building relationships with the kids, teaching in the onsite school, construction work around the building, as well as meeting immediate needs around the home. Each year they participate as a team in a big project for the Children’s Home. This year they built a shelter and a work bench as per the Children’s Home request and because it matched the skill set of the various team members that went. In order to go on the ICO each student had to raise around $1,100-1,400. The main way these students raised financial support for their trip was in the form of support letters. Given the steep financial load of the trip, the students had the entire summer to raise money. However, during the semester leading up to the trip, the team would meet for weekly bible studies, meals and meetings about the details of the trip. They also do something called “Iron Sharpens Iron,” otherwise referred to as ISI, where the team splits into groups of three. Each group then comes up with something fun to do together at some point during the week to help promote team bonding. This could include Sheetz runs, playing cards, coffee trips, Frisbee and more. They also participated in other various team bonding activities throughout the Fall semester like paint Twister, Christmas caroling at Grove City Manor, Christmas movie marathons, milkshake runs, morning yoga and more.

And finally, during Easter break the College sent out students to Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Ohio, California, Illinois and Arizona. According to leaders Caroline Baker and Evan Gourley, during the Arizona ICO they participated in various work projects on the Life in Christ Church’s property. They also served in the community by painting, replacing ceilings, walls, and floors, as well as staining wooden fences and playgrounds around the area. They also helped serve in the church’s homeless feeding ministry, passed out fliers in the neighborhood for upcoming events and helped with a Palm Sunday service in the park. In order to fund the trip the students teamed up with local businesses like Hoss’s Steak and Sea House where 10% of every patron’s bill, that had a flyer supporting the ICO team, was given to the students to help fund their trip. They also used support letters to ask their friends and family to help them fund the $400-900 trip. They also sold pepperoni rolls to students, faculty and the local community in order to help fund their trip. In addition, the school provided around $150 to help each the students’ expenses. And finally, in order to prepare for the trip the team had weekly meetings that included get-to-know-you games, information about the location and the trip and emotional and spiritual preparation for the team and as individuals.

No matter where you go, or what you do while you are there, these teams always have a different experience than the last. Each ICO team is unique with different struggles and challenges, but all of them have the same desire to use their talents and abilities to serve the Lord.

To learn more about ICO, visit the ICO web page!

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Matthew Leverknight — Leave a comment

Outing Club: Cold, Wet and Happy, since 1938

The Outing Club on a weekend trip in West Virginia's Dolly Sods Wilderness — The Outing Club on a weekend trip in West Virginia’s Dolly Sods Wilderness

What did you do last weekend? Ask that question at Grove City and you may get any number of answers, from “Homework, all the homework” to “Research paper, Greek formal, church and a game night.” But, one of the longest running traditions for weekend fun on campus is actually off campus. Say what?

Introducing the Grove City Outing Club, or OC. For these brave folks, the perfect way to recover from the rigor of academics is walking around in the woods carrying everything they need on their backs. Every semester, they schedule several weekend and break trips to different parts of the country to go backpacking. Recent destinations have included the Adirondack Mountains, Kentucky’s Red River Gorge and West Virginia’s Dolly Sods Wilderness. For Outing Club members, a weekend out in nature is the perfect way to recharge from classes.

They must be doing something right, as the OC has been part of the Grove City experience since the Great Depression. It was founded by Esther Post (Dean of Women) and college chaplain Doc Kase as a way to allow students to enjoy the outdoors and get off campus back when very few students owned cars. Ironically, when you consider its staying power over the past 80 years, the college President, Weir Ketler, was not enthusiastic about the club, but Dr. Kase was able to convince the trustees to finance the purchase of a parcel of land and construct a cabin, which is still cared for by OC alumni today. OC is considered one of the closest knit clubs on campus, for as senior Joscelyn Seaton put it: “When you have hiked alongside each other for three days without showering, you learn that your friends like you for who are and not for how you look.” This close knit community lasts beyond college, with many alumni returning for two annual events: the Fall Pig Roast and Spring Beast Feast, and the club produces a newsletter each semester with articles by active members about events.

And the events are legion and legendary. When Joscelyn was asked to provide a list of events the Outing Club takes part in, she recounted the following events that take place each year:

Weekly meetings
Six backpacking trips
Eight local hikes
Four holiday meals
Two trail running events
Two canoe trips
Two or more rock climbing trips (depending on year to year interest)

They also compete in the IM volleyball league, hold a club football game each semester, decorate a Christmas tree, go swimming in January and take trips to local square dances as a club.

It’s this eventful schedule that makes the club both a major commitment, but also, as members stress, extremely rewarding. Junior Natalie Jordan appreciates the ease of conversation among fellow club members, while they also respect quiet contemplation. She adds that, “I think nature’s time schedule is refreshing to the spirit because it allocates its resources perfectly, while at school, we often don’t do that.”

The club allows students with no prior experience in backpacking to explore the hobby. Joscelyn recalls, “Coming to Grove City, I had always wanted to be more outdoorsy, but I never had the resources, the gear or the opportunities to do so. My brothers had always gone backpacking with their Boy Scout troops, yet I had never gone. Upon discovering the Outing Club, I was overjoyed. I finally had a group of people who loved to be outside and who were willing to teach me outdoor skills. During my freshman and sophomore years, the upperclassmen taught me how to backpack, canoe, hike, navigate with a map and plan trips. Through the Outing Club, I have gained so many more skills…

“In sum, your GCC experience will be so much richer through your involvement with the Outing Club.”

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Shannon McDade — Leave a comment

International Justice Mission: Stand for Freedom

There are so many powerful service oriented groups on Grove City College’s campus. There are service honorariums such as Crowne and Sceptre, Roundtable and Mortarboard. Grove City College supports a national service fraternity in Alpha Phi Omega. There are groups such as Project Okello who seek to provide clean water to families in Africa. However, a group that really speaks to me is called the International Justice Mission. Their goal is to bring awareness to and to ultimately stop human trafficking, which is unbelievably prevalent in modern societies around the globe. Every spring, the International Justice Mission hosts an event called Stand for Freedom, which unites college students all over the country in the active mission of stopping human trafficking and slavery, sometimes by students physically standing for a period of 24 hours. I had the pleasure to interview an executive member of Grove City College’s chapter of IJM about their incredible group and community; you can find the interview below. I am so proud to be part of a campus that is committed to understanding and helping our global community as well as our local one and also humbled by my fellow students care and compassion for others.

What is your name and position in IJM?

My name is Andrea Rice and I am the secretary for IJM for the 2015-2016 school year.

Describe the goal/mission of IJM and what they do on campus?

The global IJM works with college campuses across the United States to combat slavery. Throughout our years as a chapter here at Grove City, we have sought to first bring awareness to the issues of human trafficking and slavery and the profound impact it has on all of us daily. Second, we have been proponents of Congressional bills that IJM has brought forth in order to bring about change in the legal system. Finally, in order for IJM to actually go out into the world and reach people in need, they need funding, especially as a non-profit organization; as a group on campus, we have been able to provide some assistance in that.

What is Stand for Freedom all about?

Although Stand for Freedom’s goal changes year-to-year, the event still has one overarching goal: bring slavery to the light & seek justice for the voiceless. Literally, Stand for Freedom can mean standing for 27 hours for the 27 million people enslaved all around the world today, including in the United States. What many young adults do not know is that human trafficking can happen anywhere, not just in third world countries. Human trafficking could be happening where you shop or get your favorite food. These enslaved people deserve a voice and for people to stand for them, not just one day a year, but every day.

What did the Stand for Freedom event at Grove City look like this year?

In years past, IJM has provided us with potential bills that needed to be signed in order to make it to Congress. This year, IJM urged the college chapters around the country to raise $1,500 in order for IJM to be able to fund 20 rescue missions. Being a smaller college, here at Grove City, we set our goal at $500. With the incredible support of students and faculty, we raised roughly $630. Every dollar of that will go towards rescuing those who are living in modern-day slavery, a world you or I could never imagine.

What have you personally gotten out of IJM?

Being a part of IJM has been a humbling experience. Although this topic is heavy and can be depressing, it is real, raw and on God’s own heart. Jesus came to pay the penalty for our slavery to sin, giving us freedom from our own sin and death. We are called to bring justice to His children who are enslaved. I have become more mindful of where I spend my money, knowing that I could indirectly be supporting slavery. I know that although I will be going into healthcare, I am not disconnected from this issue, because it affects all of us wherever we are.

What would you say to prospective students about this organization?

I would urge prospective students to join this fight. Whether that means here at Grove City College, at home, at church, at a summer internship or job, the fight does not have any boundaries. Here at GCC, we would love for more students to get involved in IJM because we need more voices for those who had theirs taken away from them. What we talk about is not easy, but it is real and there is hope.