The Collegian – April 7, 2017

John Foreman Switchfoot frontman performed in Crawford ENTERTAINMENT

Perspectives on Mike Pence Students have mixed reactions to the planned commencement speaker PERSPECTIVES India-bound Seniors Lindsey Reichert and Kelsey Patton are going to India this summer to teach nutrition and soccer LIFE

Collegian

The April 7, 2017

Vol. 102, No. 18

The Grove City College Student Newspaper

CommPencement Veep to address Class of 2017

Joe Setyon

Managing Editor Vice President Mike Pence will address the graduating Class of 2017 at commencement on May 20, Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty ’80 announced to the student body last Friday.

McNulty first alerted the senior class via email, then sent another later in the day to the entire student body.

“I’m delighted to inform you that Vice President Mike Pence has accepted our invitation to deliver your Commencement Address on May 20th,” McNulty said in his email to seniors.

McNulty told The Collegian that the process for getting Vice President Pence to come to campus has been in the works for months.

“We initially contacted the Pences after the election just to plant the seed about the possibility of delivering the commencement address,” he said.

Knowing that the then-vice presidentelect was busy organizing his office, McNulty said that “we waited to contact them again until after the inauguration,” then sent additional reminders in February and March.

After the announcePENCE 2

NATIONAL REVIEW

Vice President Mike Pence will give the Grove City College commencement speech for the 2017 graduating class, according to an email from President Paul J. McNulty ’80.

Grovers react to Pence announcement

Molly Wicker News Editor

President Paul J. McNulty ’80’s announcement last Friday that Vice President Mike Pence will be the 2017 Commencement speaker produced a variety of reactions, particularly from members of the class of 2017 and alumni.

Many students were excited that the vice president, who is well known for his Christian conservative beliefs and stances on political issues, was invited.

Jamieson Weaver, a senior political science major, said she is thrilled.

“I’m excited to have Pence as our graduation speaker. I really respect

him as a politician and agree with a lot of his viewpoints,” she said.

Senior Alison Kjergaard, a political science major, said she doesn’t agree with all of Pence’s political views but is excited that such a high-profile speaker would be visiting Grove City College.

“A commencement speech isn’t about poli-

tics, it isn’t about controversial issues,” Kjergaard said. “It’s about us getting sent into the world to fulfill vocations, to step into a world largely unfriendly to our faith. We need encouragement to enter this world. Who better to give us encouragement than someone who is under worldly scrutiny, who is cer-

tainly ‘in the world’ and is striving to not be ‘of the world’?”

Pence has kept his faith and morality throughout his climb to the “proverbial top,” she said. “That’s exactly the kind of person to encourage us in our next step, to push us to cling to our faith and REACTS 2

Live from the SAC Alexandra O’Brien Contributing Writer Free entertainment, free root beer floats and free soft pretzels -- sounds like a perfect night to a Grove City College student.

Every year, students flock to the Breen Student Union to snatch an open seat to watch the famous AEX Live coffeehouse event. Tomorrow night from 6 to 10:30 p.m., the men of Alpha Epsilon Chi will host a coffeehouse for the Grove City community. Musicians from around campus will be preforming songs from various genres.

For over ten years,

AEX has offered much more than an average coffee house. The packed event offers the chance for unity among the college campus. Individual performers as well as group sets have the chance to showcase their talents to the audience. Sophomore AEX member Garrett OToole encouraged each student to attend Saturday nights event.

“AEX Live is one of the few opportunities where student musicians can play in a full-band setting. As a result, the quality of performances is top notch. Come for a little bit to see your friend play, or stay for the whole thing, all are welcome to come and enjoy the music and

DANIEL HAYWARD

Tomorrow night from 6 to 10:30 p.m., the men of Alpha Epsilon Chi will host the AEX Live coffeehouse for the Grove City community. Musicians from around campus will be performing songs from various genres. fun atmosphere,” he said.

The housing group has tried to create an event that will appeal to a diverse crowd, filled with people from different

walks of life, and AEX believes that supporting the different groups around campus is essential to the growth and development of a closer campus com-

munity.

Throughout the night, the coffee house expects to entertain over 800 students, community members and faculty.

There is no obligation to stay for the allotted time, as the audience is welcome to come and go as they please.

The Collegian

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April 7, 2017

Series aims to help students in understanding of Islam

Ciara Resler Staff Writer

For the first time at Grove City College, the Understanding Islam series is being offered for students. The event provides an opportunity to learn and understand more about the Islamic culture. The series consisted of three different opportunities providing insight on different aspects of Islam.

The first lecture took place on Monday in Crawford Auditorium starting at 7 p.m. and was given by Mr. Wasi Muhammad, the executive director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh. He has degrees in Neuroscience, the History and Philosophy of Science, and Religious Studies. His lecture focused on the specific practices and religious beliefs of Islam.

The second part of the event was a pan-

PENCE ment came that Pence would be speaking at Notre Dame’s commencement on March 21, McNulty “became more hopeful that we might fit into the schedule.”

In mid-March, Pence officially accepted The College’s invitation.

The McNultys’ relationship with the Pences dates back many years.

Both Grove City College First Lady Brenda McNulty ’80 and Second Lady of the United States Karen Pence worked at the same

REACTS morals in a world that stands against those things,” Kjergaard said.

“As an evangelical Christian, he embodies Grove City College’s beliefs and reflects the message our administration tries to convey on a daily basis,” senior Arthur LaMotta wrote in an email to a Collegian staffer. LaMotta said having Pence speak to the graduating class “is a privilege and a blessing.”

Other students took a more negative view of the selection of Pence as commencement speaker, citing his political history and association with President Donald Trump.

Pence, a former congressman and governor of Indiana, has been criticized for advocating policies that are considered unconstitutional by many progressive and left-leaning voters. While serving as the governor of Indiana, he worked to cut income tax, bar the resettlement of Syrian refugees in his state and ban same-sex marriage. Since his time in the White House began,

el on Wednesday in Sticht Lecture Hall featuring two couples: Micah and Christen, and Dave and Lorrie.

Micah and Christen met in North Africa and were teachers there for about a year. They married shortly after and have lived in the U.S. ever since. They have devoted their time supporting and advocating for Muslims.

Due to their personal experience both in the States and overseas, they have aimed their mission at promoting relationships and understanding between Christians and Muslims through the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Dave and Lorrie have been serving impoverished and underserved communities both locally and globally for nearly 25 years. They were living and working in the Middle East amidst a population heavily influenced by war. That population was one of the 10 poor-

est in the world. There, they worked on a proect project designed to create long-lasting jobs.

They work with a for-profit Kingdom business venture that is focused on non-food biodiesel fuels.

At their panel, both couples discussed and answered questions about Islam from a Christian perspective.. They also discussed how Christians can seek out and form relationships with Muslims within their community.

The last part of the program involves a more experiential component, and will take place tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. until 4p.m.

Students will be coming to Pittsburgh to volunteer at a kids club hosted by Muslim and Refugee children, and will be helping them to lead crafts and game sessions.

There will also be a time of worship and a Bible lesson to attend.

An Understanding Islam series was offered for students to provide an opportunity to learn and understand more about the Islamic culture.

Christian school that both couples’ children attended.

After the McNultys’ son passed away four years ago, “the Pences were among a large group of Northern Virginia friends who offered amazing support to our family,” President McNulty said.

“We have always admired them for their humble and sincere faith,” he added.

McNulty and Pence’s professional relationship was not as extensive. Both Republicans, they were not always on the same team.

When McNulty served as Deputy Attor-

ney General and Pence was on the House Judiciary Committee, the two were on opposite sides of a media shield law that would protect reporters who did not want to reveal their sources.

Pence was a “champion” of the bill, McNulty said.

McNulty though, testified before Congress against the bill, as the Justice Department believed that its “provisions were too burdensome and unworkable for prosecutors conducting time-sensitive investigations.”

“I’m sure he wasn’t happy with our opposi-

tion, but he was always cordial,” he added.

Vice President Pence is one of the highestprofile figures to speak at commencement.

In past years, former First Lady Laura Bush, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon and current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson have addressed graduating seniors.

Due to Pence’s position as vice president, though, this year’s commencement will be different.

“The security measures on campus will be very extensive, cer-

tainly far more than the College has ever seen before,” McNulty said.

McNulty also acknowledged that his announcement has been met with a variety of responses.

“I’ve received many appreciative comments as well as thoughtfully stated objections. I’m very thankful for the civility of our campus community,” he said.

Regardless, he believes that Pence’s actual speech “will be hopeful and inspiring.”

Neither Vice President Pence’s office nor the College’s Office of Marketing and Communications could con-

firm that Pence would be speaking at commencement.

Special Assistant to the President and Press Secretary for the Vice President Marc Lotter told The Collegian in an email that “The Vice President’s schedule has not been released for that time period.”

However, McNulty is confident that an official announcement is forthcoming.

“The VP’s office is going to announce Mr. Pence’s commencement address schedule sometime soon,” he said.

Pence has supported a largely “America First” framework when it comes to foreign policy, built around the idea of a robust American military. Pence also has supported increased border security measures, voted to repeal gun control laws in Washington, D.C. and worked to dismantle education Common Core standards. Many observers believe he was selected as Trump’s running mate to secure support from evangelical voters who had reservations about the thrice-divorced and largely unchurched Trump.

“It baffles me that Christian institution, that supposedly values every human life and facilitates Christian education and beliefs, would allow someone as divisive as Mike Pence to come speak,” senior Meg Baak said.

“In an age where hate, violence, divisiveness and partisanship are so prevalent, I am shocked that Grove City would bring one of the most controversial political figureheads to our campus for graduation.”

Baak is also wary that Pence’s speech is mere-

ly a tool to increase the college’s overall recognition.

“If Pence’s speaking is merely to put Grove City on the map, I am highly discouraged,” she said.

Alumni reaction to the Pence pick was also mixed.

Caleb McKusick ’15, in an email to a Collegian staffer, expressed excitement that a school as small as Grove City would play host to a speaker of such a caliber. He said Pence has the opportunity to inspire graduates and “motivate each student and alum to face their path in life with determination and perseverance, believing that they can make a lasting impact on the people around them.”

“Regardless of where each student or alum stands politically, I hope everyone is able to get excited about this once-in-a-lifetime event. A special commendation should be given to our school’s leadership for continually striving to present the best opportunities for the students and alumni of Grove City,” he wrote.

Anna Bentley ’15,

cited Pence’s faith as an encouragement, despite the moral controversy surrounding Trump and his administration.

“I hope that he will shed some light on his role as Vice President and what it looks like to support a president that he may disagree with,” she wrote. “I personally find it encouraging that Pence … plays such an important role in the current administration.

What more could we hope for than to have an honorable man effecting a dishonorable president?”

Other alumni were not pleased and expressed themselves online.

Chrissy Ware ’03, who studied business management and was her class president, said she thinks having Pence as the commencement speaker will align the college with the value system of the current administration.

“I am very disappointed in the college’s decision to invite Mike Pence to speak at commencement,” she said in a post on Facebook.

“The only ‘Christian’ values exhibited by the current presidential administration are

sadly ones that exclude others and perpetuate the marginalization of every type of minority.

Grove City College is a place where I forged some of my deepest friendships and I am extremely upset that they would welcome a man associated with and personally exhibiting greed, bigotry, selfishness, and consistent lying.”

Eleanor Linton ’15, worried in a publiclycirculated letter addressed to McNulty that having Pence as the commencement speaker sends a message to “alums, potential students, higher educational institutions, and the world” that Grove City College endorses the Trump administration.

“The commencement speaker cannot represent the views of everyone graduating. There’s bound to be controversy of some sort. But the speaker invited is a clear indicator of where the school’s leadership places value and how they want to be regarded in the most public and high profile event any college ever has.

My concern is that with Vice President Pence

being selected, Grove City College is actively giving away the chance to stand for Christian values and is instead choosing to identify with the political party in the White House,” she wrote.

McNulty ’80 hailed Pence as the commencement speaker.

“Mike Pence is one of the most influential leaders in the world today. He’s a former leader in Congress and governor and now Vice President of the United States. Mrs. McNulty and I have been blessed to know them as friends,” he said.

McNulty also expressed his “great confidence in the strong culture of Grove City College and our distinctive attributes of humility and respect for others.”

After Grove City College, Pence will travel to his home state of Indiana, where he will speak to graduates of Notre Dame University.

Students at the Catholic college have also expressed varying opinions about that institution’s commencement choice.

GEO URDU

Life

April 7, 2017

Page 3

Fujimura sparks flame Kayla Sarin

Contributing Writer

BUSINESS INSIDER

Choosing Vice President Mike Pence as commencement speaker is no doubt a sign that Grove City College is quickly devolving into a liberal institution.

Grover Life

An occasional satirical feature exploring the vagaries of life at Grove City College

GCC settles for Mike Pence At Grove City College, President McNulty announced via email late last Friday that Vice President Mike Pence would be the commencement speaker for the GCC Class of 2017.

While many Grovers were elated that the college had secured such a high-profile speaker, a number of others voiced concerns that Pence might diverge too far from the political and religious beliefs of most students on campus.

When asked what kind of speaker she would have preferred, one senior stated, “I guess I just wanted someone who really represented Grove City values, ya know?

I’m just not sure that faith and freedom matter enough to Mike Pence. Sure, he’s a conservative Christian, but I was hoping more for an ultraconservative, ultraChristian. You know, like the kind that just use their initials as their first name.”

The student’s sentiments resonated with many other students, including another senior, who said, “Mike Pence is great but I was really trying to get the administration to summon the ghost of Ronald Reagan to

speak… or at least C.S. Lewis or R.C. Sproul or something.”

Among other names that students suggested were Ludwig von Mises and John the Baptist.

Some students proved especially vocal in their concerns that bringing Pence to campus might rupture the bubble of pure Christian conservatism that surrounds the college.

“First Ben Carson, and now Mike Pence?

Is McNulty trying to turn this place into a liberal cesspit? This guy has achieved nothing, and will only attract more socialists to campus,” stated a fifth-year senior.

Another senior noted that “Mike Pence does not believe that taxation is theft. Do we really want that kind of man on our campus?”

Despite growing concerns regarding the potential negative consequences of allowing Pence to speak at Freedom’s College, the administration is not expected to rescind its invitation. Student Life and Learning did indicate, however, that safe spaces would be provided for any student who feared psychological trauma from Pence’s speech.

On Thursday, March 30, Grove City welcomed world renowned artist Makoto Fujimura to the stage.

Fujimura is the Director of Fuller’s Brehm Center, a community of Christ-centered people who encourage leaders to integrate their faith into the arts.

He was presented with the annual award, “2014 Religion and the Arts,” by the American Academy of Religion because of his contribution to relating the arts and religion. Fujimura is a popular speaker and author who ties religion into the artwork he continually creates.

Fujimura was commissioned to do paintings for each of the four Gospels.

He explained that today, Christians think the Gospel is centered on fixing the world, but that is not the case. Instead, he believes the Gospel is about Jesus’ tears and His presence amidst our trauma. He picked the verse, “Jesus wept,” from John 11 and told the story of Mary and Martha weeping after Lazarus’ death.

He talked mostly about his painting “Tears of Christ,” which he finished before the paintings on the four Gospels. His goal was to use this painting as inspiration and paint the four Gospel paintings through the lens of Jesus’ tears.

When talking about the verse “Jesus wept,” he made a point to mention verse four of John 11 that says, “so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Jesus had the power of healing Lazarus before he died, but instead, he waited until after Lazarus had already passed.

Fujimura said, “Tears are useless if you possess the power to cause miracles.”

He went on to say that Jesus allowed Himself to become human and experience all the emotions that come with that—even weeping over the death of a loved one.

Fujimura said that Martha knew Jesus’s tears were not just for her and her family, but also for what was to come. She knew that He would have to pay a price. For Mary, she was able to see that Jesus was a close friend

ANDREW STEIN

while also being a Savior because of His tears.

Fujimura explained that she was so overcome with gratitude for what Jesus had done that she felt the need to anoint Him with the nard from her alabaster jar – something that was supposed to be saved for marriage. A man in that time would only smell that scent on his wedding night, so this angered the disciples.

Tying everything together at the end of his lecture, Fujimura explained that he uses expensive materials when he paints because it is the best he can bring to God.

He asked the audience, “When you speak of the Gospel, do you smell like the aroma of Mary? Do you smell like the aroma of a wedding night?”

Many students found the lecture incredibly moving and were left speechless.

Senior Raquel Fereshetian said, “He showed us his perspective of the Bible and brought us new meaning to the combination of art and faith.”

She added that his passion for his work obviously comes from the Lord and it was beautiful to see his success through that.

Reknowned artist and writer Makoto Fujimura spoke at the Christian Writer’s Conference at Grove City College last Thursday.

Author speaks on left’s ‘Distortion’ of scriptures

Kelleigh Huber Life Editor

A first-time visitor to campus, Chelsen Vicari, author and evangelical program director at the Institute on Religion and Democracy sat down with Dr. Paul Kengor to discuss her book Tuesday evening in Sticht Lecture Hall.

The book, entitled “Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel and Damaging the Faith,” is full in both title as well as in content.

Vicari highlighted much of her upbringing, college experience, and now job experience during the discussion, leaving students with a collection of thoughts on how to best implement Christian beliefs and act on them.

Vicari spoke to the nature of social justice, arguing that truly it depends on how one performs social justice. For example, in her college years, she said that she was blinded to the fact that liberation theology was actually repackaged as justice theology.

“Distorted” depicts both the crisis and the issues at stake in

the upcoming world and pins millennials as victims to something similar to what Vicari experienced herself – revisionist theology – which appeared differently to her; she couldn’t recognize it at first.

In addition to theology, Vicari’s book addresses three groups of Christians. Vicari herself argues that at some point everyone falls into all three of the categories, but it is which group one falls into that determines the kind of person they truly are.

The first group she mentions are “couch potato Christians,” or the mature Christians who are traditional in faith, but do not speak out or get involved in any of the issues surrounding our culture.

Another group is “cafeteriastyle Christians,” those who go along the buffet line and pick and choose the issues they feel comfortable discussing with others. Most often, those are the easy issues.

Finally, “convictional Christians,” the ones who are a minority and the category all should aim to fall into. “Convictional

Christians” hold to traditional faith but choose to engage, having a strong social and vocal presence.

Later in the book, Vicari hits on the sensitive issues of the culture today, including same sex marriage, gender, Jesus feminists and the sanctity of life. Social issues present the chance to create change, but Vicari noted there is a personal and sensitive nature to these topics. Speaking to tradition, Vicari argued that tradition is in place for such a long period of time that once the guard is let down, the line just keeps moving and moving.

She points to Christians who are struggling with these issues and how these are never the people that are heard about in the news, despite the incredible journeys these people are on.

Vicari urged the student body to stick to Christian creeds and work hard in their mission fields in order to stay firm in the faith.

She closed with Ephesians 4:15, encouraging students to speak the truth in love every day, but also as they head out from Grove City.

Campus gets artsy for annual festival Rachel Riviere Staff Writer

The annual Arts Festival is taking place on campus this week and features a variety of art forms such as poetry, visual arts, pottery and music.

What used to be known as “Project Eve” a few years ago has now become the Arts Festival. The event is open to contributions from both women and men.

“This year, the Arts Festival is over a week

long,” said senior Christie Goodwin. “It will include a poetry reading, organized by Amanda Mittelman, a wheel throwing demonstration featuring Freddy Raupp, the SGA coffeehouse, Dr. Drake and Dr. Munson’s ‘Beauty’ talk, an Exhibit Opening Party, AEX Live and multiple student art exhibits around campus.”

This year, Goodwin is putting on the event with the help of Junior Director Robert Graham and 19 other

exhibit curators, PR directors and event planners.

This year, the Festival will feature new exhibits that will draw students in and encourage them to think critically and experiment with their own creativity.

“Jenna Hershberger has organized a theme exhibit this year in which students created art pieces based on one of Dr. Eric Potter’s poems,” said Goodwin.

“This is a new exhibit this year, and we’re very

excited about this collaboration!”

Another new feature for this year has to do with The Quad literary magazine on campus.

“This year, The Quad is creating a special exhibit of past magazine covers,” Goodwin said.

“Grant Wishard and Sophie Stangebye are curating an exhibit of these covers, and the framed covers will be permanently displayed in the English Department suite once the event is over.”

The Arts Festival is an opportunity for students to share their own creations and admire the talent of others. It is a unique invitation to break away from the demands of school work and take time to examine the work of peers and fellow artists.

“There are so many talented artists on this campus that have few opportunities to share their art with the campus. It is both inspirational and refreshing to see the work of students

who have made creativity a priority,” said Goodwin.

“Art expresses the unspoken, communicating the reality of an often-hidden life,” said Goodwin. “Artists, poets and writers are the truth-tellers in our lives. I hope students walk away with a greater respect for the artists who are both burdened and blessed with this responsibility,” she added.

The Collegian

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April 7, 2017

A perfect pair: Grovers in India Kelleigh Huber Life Editor Instead of moving to a large city to begin work immediately after graduation, two seniors have created a project that gives to an area of the world untouched by things so common to us here – soccer and nutrition.

Fulfilling a need that senior Lindsey Reichert saw during her time in India as a Red Box Missionary, she, along with teammate Kelsey Patton, have set out to move to Jaigaon, India for a fiveweek pilot program in which they will be able to teach nutrition and coach soccer for the students of an Assembly of God Mission School.

The school brings together students from India, Nepal and Bhutan – students ranging from kindergarten to tenth grade, about 400 kids.

Reichert and Patton will begin their program on June 10, in sync with the start of the school year for the children in India.

For the time being, their program is five weeks, giving them until the middle of July to assess the state of the programs over there and to see if there is a persistent need that will carry on past the pilot program itself.

The pair is working with Harvest Bridge, an organization with one goal: “to come alongside indigenous ministries in South Asia,” according to their webpage.

While they won’t be not traveling with Har-

LINDSEY REICHERT

Seniors Kelsey Patton and Lindsey Reichert will travel to India the summer following their graduation to work with schoolchildren in this country. vest Bridge representatives, Harvest Bridge has provided Reichert and Patton with contacts in India, such as principals, pastors and schools.

From there, the girls have initiated contact and are working to get themselves to India.

They have been in personal contact with the principal of the Assembly of God Mission School, who told them that he had been hopeful for a program like this to come to his school.

Reichert and Patton will be working in a variety of different ways during their five weeks.

Overall, the time is short but much is able to be done in it. There are certain hours available for their lessons, which will include both soccer training as well as nutrition and hygiene lessons for the students.

From noon to 2 p.m., they will have the oppor-

tunity to teach one hour of nutrition training and one hour of soccer training.

The time could include classroom sessions with handouts and PowerPoints, soccer drills, shooting and passing, hopefully building up to scrimmages. When the students are in class, another job they are pursuing is observation.

“We’re trying to gauge if the kids can start making the connection between strength and nutrition,” Patton said.

“We’re assessing the challenges and obstacles [that we have] conveying this educational information to children.”

They also plan to maintain a social media presence to document the trip. While traveling is not a part of the five-week pilot program, Reichert and Patton hope that an entire program will be built that

they can then present to other schools, spreading across India. Other community outreach will be given in the form of community potluck dinners and training for teachers in how to coach.

The idea for the project came from a variety of places, although Reichert admits her Red Box experience in India during the summer of 2016 significantly impacted her decision to pursue this after graduation.

“I was trying to process through what I saw this summer,” Reichert said. “I asked them about themselves, and many said they enjoyed cricket, football (soccer), but they didn’t have a sports team to play on. I noticed a strong need for nutrition education everywhere I went in the schools. The girls would just come up and ask questions, so there was a need for that, and we’re pulling those

two together.”

For Patton, the decision to go to India postgraduation was a combination of many of her favorite things.

“I thought it was a really neat project, a lot of things were combined that I love – an intercultural setting, my love for kids…I have the visual in my mind, and I’m excited to see that visual be a reality, like it has been Lindsey’s,” Patton said.

Patton and Reichert are optimistic that the trip will further enhance their careers later down the road. As Communication Studies majors, both agreed the career growth is happening on this end of the project, as they create contacts in India and work to raise support financially.

Their theme, Patton said, is adaptation and being able to be molded in these five weeks.

“There are things I’ll

realize later. I’m going in open to how God wants to transform me and how God will use us. We’re going in unsure about what God’s going to do, but excited for what He’s going to do,” she said.

A theme that Reichert is working towards is servanthood.

“I talked to a missionary couple and they were saying that we’re going to be able to observe a lot, but nothing really is going to change their habits in five weeks. I just want to go over there with the heart of servanthood and understand how we can help everyone in that time,” she said.

There are many ways for the campus community to get involved in helping Reichert and Patton prepare for their trip this summer. If you have nutritional plans, soccer training ideas, ideas for support raising, or connections to alumni who would have interest in supporting the project, please email ReichertLM1@ gcc.edu or PattonKE1@ gcc.edu. In addition, a $50 donation will support a child with a soccer ball, cleats and water bottle and will also provide food towards community potlucks that the girls will be holding.

June 10 begins a new journey for Reichert and Patton, who are excited for the trip and hopeful of the outcomes.

“I’m super excited to be going back, I think my heart is really in India now,” Reichert said.

Do-it-all alum shares his journey

Marley Kropp Staff Writer

You don’t often hear singing in the Hall of Arts and Letters. You expect to hear singing in Pew Fine Arts Center or during a coffeehouse in the Student Union.

However, if you passed

by HAL 204 at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 31, you would have heard live music.

With guitar in-hand, singer-songwriter and novelist Bill Deasy ’88 shared the story of his creative career with a screenwriting class.

Deasy, a Pittsburgh native, started by playing a song that resonated with him during his college years: “These Days” by Jackson Browne.

Deasy told students, “That’s who I was when I was you. I don’t know what I had to be so sad about, but maybe I connected with the overall feel of the music.”

Deasy built his career on writing original music and performing. While in college, he performed as part of an acoustic duo every Thursday at a local bar.

After college, he debated about whether he

should pursue a career as a musician. Deasy said, “It’s hard to say if I was approaching the life of an artist bravely or if I was just afraid of doing something normal.”

Deasy ended up pursuing the life of a musician. He became the principle songwriter for the Gathering Field, a rock band that became popular in western Pennsylvania in the 1990s.

Deasy teamed up with Dave Brown, a musician from the town of Grove City, to form the band.

The Gathering Field’s biggest hit was “Lost in America” from the 1994 album of the same name. After Deasy played the song for the students in the screenwriting class, he said that the Gathering Field landed a record contract with Atlantic Records in 1996.

However, the band’s regional success did not translate into national success. Deasy said that Atlantic was busy promoting Matchbox Twenty.

Deasy started to become frustrated with the record company.

He wanted to regain control over his creative process. In 1997, Deasy started thinking about a compelling name that he once saw on a tombstone: Ransom Seaborn. He decided to use that name to write a novel.

“I wrote long-winded songs,” said Deasy.

“You could see in my songwriting that I would one day write novels or screenplays.”

Deasy wrote ‘Ransom Seaborn,” the story of Dan “Fin” Finbar, a student who did not fit the mold of his small, conservative Christian college. Deasy based many of Fin’s experiences on his own time at Grove City.

“I was raised Catholic and liberal,” said Deasy. “I loved my time at Grove City, but I also had a little band of rebels.”

“Ransom Seaborn” did not receive a publishing deal right away, so Deasy put the work on the backburner.

In 2001, the Gathering Field went on hiatus, and Deasy worked on his solo career as a songwriter and performer. Deasy’s song “Good Things Are Hap-

MARLEY KROPP

Musician/writer Bill Deasy ’88 talked to students about his creative journey. pening” became the theme of Good Morning America.

In 2005, Deasy revisited “Ransom Seaborn.” He received a publishing deal with Velluminous Press and sold a few thousand copies of the book; he has written two more novels since then.

Despite the completion of multiple novels Deasy was not finished with Dan Finbar.

Around 2009, one of Deasy’s friends, who worked at a major movie studio, suggested that Deasy make “Ransom Seaborn” into a movie.

“Screenwriting merges songwriting and novel writing,” Deasy said.

“I just went for it. I dove into the world of screenwriting.”

Deasy’s friend sent the screenplay out for coverage, which is anonymous criticism from professionals in the movie industry. The screenplay received harsh feedback, and he became aware of “glaring deficiencies” in his work.

For years, Deasy reworked the screenplay.

“At times, I was devastated,” he said, “but I love the process.”

Deasy added a more robust backstory for Fin and started to grasp the differences between writing novels and screenplays.

He recently sent out the last draft of the screenplay for coverage, and it received very positive feedback.

“We’ll see what comes next,” said Deasy, “but at least I did it.”

“It takes a certain kind of bravery to write,” said Deasy. “You have to get comfortable with your own language, your inner machinery. Your writing has to connect with you and then it’ll connect with others.”

Deasy’s songs and novels have already connected with thousands of people. We’ll wait and see down what new roads his screenplay leads him.

Entertainment Straight from the heart

April 7, 2017

Jonathan Fisher Staff Writer

Last Friday night, Grove City College students, both past and present, along with other concertgoers gathered in Crawford Auditorium to watch Jon Foreman perform.

Joel Ansett opened the concert by performing a few songs of his own. It was evident that every one of his songs was written and sung from the heart whether having to do with the hardships of the world’s brokenness in “Tragedy is Not the End” or the beauty of love in “Already in Love.”

His songs, having an overall mellow vibe, gave a nice and relaxed beginning to the concert.

After Ansett finished his set, there was an intermission period while the stage was set up for Foreman’s performance. The environment remained pretty relaxed during this time, but once the lights began to dim for Foreman to come onstage, there was a clear spike in the room’s energy. Audience members stood up and got as close to the stage as

Page 5

possible.

Foreman was met with great cheers and applause as he entered the stage with his two accompanists and began his portion of the show.

Having a considerable following and repertoire of songs, it would probably make sense that Foreman would have all of his songs planned out.

This, however, was not the case.

He came onstage with a big pile of notecards that had been passed through the audience towards the beginning of the concert for people to write song requests on. One by one Foreman chose songs from the pile to play, and his accompanists worked very quickly to provide multiple impromptu musical arrangements.

One of the reasons Foreman said he did this was to make a point that the music he made was everyone’s and not just his.

It was certainly evident that his goal of community was met by the overall presence of excitement as the crowd sang along with and cheered for his songs.

Another reason was

to celebrate the chaos of life. With the world throwing so many unexpected curveballs, it can certainly be frustrating to deal with things not going according to plan, but Foreman combatted facing the unforeseen by embracing it.

One of the pieces of “chaos” that happened during the concert that the crowd was excited to celebrate was when one of Grove City College’s very own students was able to do an impromptu performance with him. It all started when junior Jordan Hörst held up a sign reading “Can my friend Josh play a song with you?” referring to junior Joshua Tracey.

Once he realized what the sign said, Foreman right away invited Tracey onstage to perform “Learning to Breathe” with him by accompanying on guitar and doing some of the vocals.

“Singing with Jon was easily the best moment of my life. I’ve been listening to his music since I was seven,” said Tracey.

“To be able to not only meet but sing with my musical hero was the greatest gift I’ve ever been given. The

Old MAP ‘Unplugged’

ROB AUDIA

Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman performed on campus last Friday. The concert, which was well-received by its attendees, also featured Grove City alum and fellow musician Joel Ansett. For more photos, see Photospread on pages 6 and 7. fact that he let me do that speaks a lot about his character.”

Getting to watch Tracey perform with Foreman was certainly a highlight of the concert for many of the students among other things.

Sophomore Kevin Zuercher talked about his own positive experience watching Jon Foreman that night.

“I thought it was great,” he said. “He was very connected with the audience, which was fantastic. It was like he

was still a college student in many ways.”

The concert’s success, however, would not have been possible without hard work behind the scenes.

Senior Joshua Delk, the president of Stonebridge Concerts, the organization that put together the evening’s performance, reflected on the work of the students in the organization.

“I think our group worked well. We set ourselves up for success. People were ex-

cited and passionate about what they were doing, and that really showed,” he said.

Everything in the Foreman concert worked together to bring the campus community nostalgia and excitement but also a glimpse of the beauty and community that music can bring.

Closing with “Your Love Is Strong,” Foreman pointed all the glory back to God, which was the perfect way to conclude such a joyous evening.

Is it time to ‘Take Me Home?’

Sarah Gibbs Staff Writer

Last Saturday, the men of Alpha Sigma put on their annual coffeehouse concert, Unplugged. Attendees consumed root beer floats and enjoyed music from a variety of different groups, including the Grove City College Glee Club and the Ian Bogle Experience.

Photos by Karen Postupac

In “Take Me Home,” Sam Jaeger (major roles in “Hart’s War” and “Parenthood”) creates a film that explores the meaning of life as well as the American countryside. This indie road trip film follows a part-time cab driver who agrees to drive a distressed woman to see her recently hospitalized father in California.

Claire Barrow (Amber Jaeger, Solitary) comes home on her lunch break to find her husband flirting with his secretary. Later that night while at work her mother calls to tell her that her estranged father has had a heart attack. Not sure what to do, Claire hails a taxi.

Unemployed and recently evicted, Thom (Sam Jaeger) answers the call. Over the next 90 minutes (five days and 2,500 miles), two average people learn to live and work together in the confines of a medium-size sedan. The collision of two very different lives earns this road trip film its romantic comedy description.

Thom and Claire tussle over how they share the room in the car: Thom needs space for all his belongings (due to the eviction) and Claire needs space for recent mall purchases (due to therapeutic shopping).

The second day, Claire loses her purse and the two have to fig-

THE MOVIEPICTURESHOW.COM

“Take Me Home” stars Sam Jaeger ad Claire Barrow. ure out how to make $83 stretch the rest of the way to California.

Their ideas include raiding a continental breakfast and resorting to taxi driving in an unfamiliar town.

As the countryside rolls by and the money runs out, the beauty of the road and of the land slowly rejuvenates their hearts and souls and welcomes them back home—home amidst their past, their forgotten dreams, and their faraway families.

Sam Jaeger brings us along in this journey with lingering shots of rustling corn fields, dusty deserts, and beautiful sunsets.

We, along with Claire and Thom, drive through the old to get to the new.

Sam Jaeger wrote, directed and acted in the leading role in what is his first feature film as a director. His wife, Amber Jaeger, acted opposite him and some little Jaegers appear in one scene as brats in the back of the taxi.

He began work on the script in 2004, and with the help of Good Folk Films and Wonder Entertainment in 2010, finally took the film from the drawing board

to car mounted cameras on Interstate 70.

The small film crew traveled across the country in an RV, crossing 13 states and filming in each of them. Most big cities gave them a decent reception, but in small towns, and in Ashville, Ohio in particular, they were pulled over within 5 minutes.

Jaeger said of the Ashville incident, “I don’t know if they thought we were terrorists or what. But sure enough we [got] shut down and asked to leave the city.”

Released in 2011, “Take Me Home” performed well at a variety of film festivals, winning the Audience Choice awards at both the Boston Film Festival and the Rhode Island International Film Festival, receiving the award for Best Music in a Feature Film at the Nashville Film Festival, and receiving the Golden Ace Award at the Las Vegas Film Festival.

Monterey Media bought the rights to the film and released it to seven theatres in 2012. The low-budget film grossed $15,000 in 11 weeks in theatres.

The film is available for streaming on Netflix.

Page 6

Through the Lens

April 7, 2017

ROBERT AUDIA

JON, JOEL AND JOSH JAM At left, Jon Foreman sings alongside junior Josh Tracey of Grove City College. After spotting a sign in the crowd that read “Let my friend Josh play with you,” Foreman did just that.

He gladly handed over his guitar to Tracey, who proceeded to faultlessly perform the song, “Learning to Breathe,” as the crowd roared their approval. Not only did Foreman sing with Tracey, but his drummer and cellist accompanied him. When the song finished, the two embraced as the crowd applauded for one of their own. For a full concert review, see page 5.

Alyssa Jackson ROBERT AUDIA

ROBERT AUDIA

ROBERT AUDIA

ROBERT AUDIA

April 7, 2017

Through the Lens

Page 7

ANDREW STEIN

ROBERT AUDIA

ROBERT AUDIA

ANDREW STEIN

WHATEVER YOU DO Whether you feel called to be a pastor, church planter, counselor, educator, community organizer, or something else, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary will prepare you to serve Christ in whatever you do. Grove City College graduates may qualify for the PTS Partners Grant.

Degree programs: • • • •

Master of Divinity (including emphasis in church planting) Master of Divinity with joint degrees (Including law, social work, and public policy) Master of Divinity or Master of Arts with concentration in urban ministry Master of Arts (including Theology and Ministry or Theological Studies)

ANDREW STEIN

Photos by Andrew Stein and Robert Audia

1-800-451-4194 www.pts.edu/GC

The Collegian

Page 8

April 7, 2017

TobyMac rocks out

Madison Stout Staff Writer

Last Friday, TobyMac sold out the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

KLOVE and Food for the Hungry presented the TobyMac “HITS DEEP Tour” including Matt Maher, Mandisa, Mac Powell, Capital Kings, Ryan Stevenson and Hollyn. The entire tour will visit over 30 arenas across the U.S. TobyMac has been performing since 1987 when he created DC Talk with Newsboys’ Michael Tait and Audio Adrenaline’s Kevin Max Smith. According to his website tobymac.com, he has been with his current band DiverseCity since his solo career took off in 2001.

According to The Christian Beat, this tour is part two of the “HITS

DEEP Tour” which began in the spring of 2016. 26 out of his 29 venues sold out and Pollstar said “the HITS DEEP Tour was the biggest tour in Christian music and ranked in the top 35 tours in the world.”

Over 15,000 children were sponsored by concertgoers through the partnership with Food for the Hungry last year and this year TobyMac has partnered with them again. By the looks of it, part two seems like it is going to be just as successful.

Technically TobyMac is a Christian hip hop, pop artist, but in reality his songs range from rap to rock, alternative to reggae. Songs like “Love Broke Through,” and “Steal My Show” are much slower. He and his band’s performance during these

songs are slightly less dynamic. They tone down the crazy lights and dances, instead focusing directly on the music and worshiping the Lord.

Then there are songs like “Til the Day I Die” which has a much more rap/rock feel. The entire stage was covered in smoke and blue lights shot up from the floor. The end of the song had TobyMac lead the band down the walk way in a march forma-

tion while waving white flags that pictured a cross and “Til the Day I Die.” He really does have a wide range of songs and the diverse group of bands he asked to join him on his tour shows that.

One of the things I found particularly interesting was that during his performance throughout the evening, TobyMac had all of his front liners, with the exception of

Claire Rauf Staff Writer

Mac Powell and Capital Kings, come back on to do a song with him.

He truly is a performer. A show running an hour and a half long, a crazy light display, smoke machines, a DJ solo mix and a jazz section of the band, tobyMac sure does know how pull out all the stops.

Despite all the technology and party vibes, TobyMac also acknowledged that his fame and success was not of

Staff Writer

FOXNEWS.COM

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and 8+ will be released to the world on April 28. new intelligent assistant, Bixby. The Galaxy S8 is the perfect candidate for the launch of this AI, as it even has a dedicated side button so that Bixby is always only a click away.

The intentions for Bixby are pure, but the reality is that it’s just like every other intelligent assistant on the market. Reviewers who played around with the device at launch were later contacted by Samsung representatives who reported that their contact with Bixby was merely a demo, and as such wasn’t really indicative of the full power of the service.

Regardless, most reviewers who compare Bixby with its rivals state that the voice assistant falls short.

As expected, the inside of the phone is increasingly powerful.

According to highlyprobable leaks, the S8 will be sold with 4GB of RAM with either a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset or Samsung’s Exynos 8895.

This amps up the CPU 10 percent as compared to last year’s model.

While the physical home button no longer exists, there is still a “button” that operates very similarly to the iPhone 7 button, as it offers haptic feedback instead of a click.

The visuals and icons on the S8 are now more natural looking, with fewer angular shapes.

It is quite aesthetically pleasing. The menus and scrolling are fluid and quick to respond.

Samsung already has arguably one of the best cameras on the market, and the company seems nervous to mess with the formula. The S8 has a 12MP sensor on the rear, with an f/1.7 aperture and a fast autofocus. The front camera is now 8MP, making it a pretty solid selfie phone. While it was a safe call on Samsung’s part to stick with their current camera instead of potentially messing up something new, at the rate technology is moving, rival phones will quickly outpace the S8 in terms of the camera.

The Galaxy’s battery is 3000mAh, which is pretty hefty compared to the iPhone 7’s 1960mAh battery.

However, the new elongated screen may drain the battery life. Wireless and fast charging are also included, but there seems to be no massive upgrade to the battery life.

The starting price for the S8 is set at $750, and the S8+ at $850.

The phones will be available for sale on April 28.

his own doing but because of the Lord. His performances are to worship and recognize God. He told the audience that every night as he walks to the center of the stage to begin his concerts he asks God to speak through him.

Bethany King, a Grove City College student attendee of the concert said that “The concert was really fun!

It was awesome being in God’s presence for the night.”

Beauty in darkness

Nicolas Giorgi

less charging, and an IP68 rating into a 5.8inch display. The phone is big, and as such might require some getting used to, especially for those with small hands.

Overall, the phone is beautiful.

For the U.S., the phone will be released in three colors: Midnight, Orchid Gray, and Arctic Silver. The other two colors, Maple Gold and Coral Blue, are reserved for other regions.

The screen itself is a Super AMOLED display with a QHD resolution that is able to be manually altered in the settings. Because the screen is extended, the screen is now an 18.5:9 aspect ratio, which is incredibly powerful compared to the iPhone 7’s 9:16 aspect ratio.

Samsung also claims that this is the first phone to be offering full HDR technology, which is a slight to LG and Sony, who have already announced the technology. In addition, Samsung is partnering with Netflix and Amazon to offer full mobile HDR viewing, which is a step forward for this technology.

Another highlight of the phone that was announced pre-release, interestingly enough, is the creation and implementation of Samsung’s

CONCERTFIX.COM

TobyMac recently played in Pittsburgh on his “Hits DEEP Tour”, rocking out the Petersen Events Center.

Samsung seeks to soar Samsung recently revealed its newest flagship phone in two models, the Galaxy S8 and S8+, both of which will be available worldwide on April 28.

But in a rapidly advancing technological world where every phone is starting to look and feel the same, will Samsung’s newest devices save the tech giant from burning out – literally? The company faced major allegations within the past year after one of their devices, the Galaxy Note 7, would spontaneously burst into flames with no warning whatsoever.

Luckily, the S8 and its larger counterpart, the S8+, seem to have just the right combination of style and processing power to keep the company afloat.

Plus, according to Samsung, both of the phones have undergone newly implemented rigorous battery testing to make sure that neither unexpectedly explode.

Who would have ever guessed that that would be a primary selling point for a phone?

The headline feature of the devices is the Infinity Display. While the phone isn’t all screen, it’s close enough. Samsung was able to accomplish this by eliminating the home screen button, and the whole effect is incredibly sleek.

Unfortunately, the fingerprint sensor that unlocks the phone was placed quite awkwardly, right below the camera on the back. While this is only initially uncomfortable, any user can simply employ the iris scanner or facial recognition to unlock the phone by holding it up.

The whole phone packs in an incredibly low bezel-to-screen ratio, small chassis, wire-

Life on this planet is all about finding enjoyment in the little things.

Some of the most astounding aspects of life are understated; gentle rains on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the smell of sanguine sulfur after the candles on a cake have been blown out and the soft whir of the wind through long pine needles on a warm spring night. We have a propensity to look past the little things, forgetting that those are what make things particularly worthy of joy.

The same can be said about music. Small, seemingly insignificant musicians can offer the largest amount of joy, in specific and unique circumstances.

Such is the case for the band “Cemeteries,” the moniker chosen by Kyle J. Reigle. Cemeteries is a unique kind of beautiful, a beauty that can seem quite ugly to some, but intensely serene to others; this is very similar to the peace that some can feel in a cemetery.

Reigle describes his sound as dark, but not in the conventional way. It’s dark in a fashion that is similar to derge; it isn’t inherently morose, but context comes with his writing and instrumentation lends to the feeling.

This is perfectly exemplified through the 2015 album ‘Barrow.’

The album opens with the track “Procession.”

The sound of waves first greets the listener, calmly escorting gentle modulated bells, tinny xylophone and the obscured chanting. As the track progresses, the volume begins to increase significantly, seizes, then rolls into the simple chords of the piano. This is when the

album truly comes alive with “Nightjar.”

The tempo picks up, the piano continues its simple, few set of chords, the drums start to point, and a modulated guitar begins to electrify the air. The track also becomes whimsical as airy, poignantly written vocals are introduced, though notably distant.

Each track offers its own character, with two other tracks being particularly notable.

The first of these, the third track, is “Luna (Moon of Claiming).”

It is perfectly split into two three-minute halves, the second half being a reprise, with only the piano and vocals being used. There is an uncomfortable split in tone between the instrumentation and the lyrics; the piano is quite calm, but the lyrics are ambivalent to something unknown.

The mix of the two elements is chilling.

The second notable track, what could be considered the most accessible and upbeat track, is “Sodus.” The track feels like he is excited telling a story about a thrilling yet terrifying night of exploring a nighttime shore.

The pumping guitar and harsh drums are provide great contrast to the rest of the album.

As a whole, Barrow is reminiscent of a luminescent night on a mid-summer’s night as one strolls through a barren field basked in gentle yet vivacious moonlight, while slightly amalgamous trees dancing off in the distance as a gentle breeze sweeps past and the roll of distant waves beckons for company. There is a quietude that is unique to Barrow that deserves to be experienced.

Perspectives Perspectives on Pence

Page 9

April 7, 2017

Pence pick puts politics over Christ Matt Hoekstra Staff Writer

“I would like to watch you graduate, not watch you protest,” my Mom told me in a text message. Unfortunately for her, it looks like I may do both.

My initial reaction to the announcement that Vice President Mike Pence would be speaking at commencement was one of amusement.

Of course Grove City invited him, I thought.

I guess Trump is scheduled to be at Mar-a-Lago that weekend.

But that cynical façade fell away to anger.

Mike Pence does not speak for me, or many of my friends on this campus who are LGBTQ, people of color, women, immigrants or any other group that Trump/Pence have maligned to rise to power.

For my friends and I, President McNulty’s “exciting announcement” came as a slap in the face.

Is the highest a Christian can hope to achieve in this world becoming a conservative politician?

That is the logical conclusion from examining the chain of recent commencement speakers – Jeb Bush in 2014, Representative Frank Wolf in 2015, Dr. Ben Carson in 2016 and now Vice President Mike Pence.

All members of the Republican establishment, these speakers have contributed to an echo-chamber at Grove City College, enforcing a message that the only way you can be a good Christian is if you vote Republican.

My main issue with the invitation to Vice President Pence, however, is not that he is a conservative Christian.

It is that he is an atrocious representative of Christ. Luke 6:4345 says that “no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,” and Mike Pence has produced some rotten fruit in his years of public service by regularly putting his conservative politics ahead of his Christian faith.

When he was governor of Indiana, Pence refused to support a needle exchange program, suggesting that providing clean needles would be an incentive for opioid users to continue using. However, drug use in Indiana did not fall. Instead, people struggling with drug addiction started reusing and sharing needles.

As a direct result of Pence’s lack of compassion on the opioid

addicted, an HIV epidemic broke out. This may seem like an issue of bad sense instead of corrupt character, but Matthew 25:40 says, “Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

Likewise, Pence’s history of supporting conversion therapy for LGBTQ individuals, a practice denounced by the medical and psychological establishments, should alarm Christians concerned with the sanctity of life, regardless of their view on the morality of homosexuality.

According to the New York Times, in 2000, Pence sought to provide federal funding to organizations that “provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior” and 2016’s Republican Party platform supports the “rights of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.”

Both of these are thinly veiled references to conversion therapy.

The issue with Pence’s support of conversion therapy is not just that the practice is ineffective, but that in many cases, it is detrimental to individuals who undergo the process.

Conversion therapy often leaves the LGBTQ individual feeling unsupported and rejected, and, according to a study conducted

by San Francisco State University, LGBTQ youth who feel rejected by their families are eight times as likely to attempt suicide, compared with their LGBTQ peers who do not feel rejected. Psalm 139:13 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”

Anything that contributes to an individual being unable to see the image of God in themselves, as conversion therapy does, should be rejected by Christians, and yet Mike Pence embraces it.

Most contrary to the Savior that Pence claims to serve is the President that he unwaveringly binds himself to. Pence’s loyalty to a man who brags about his ability to sexually assault women should be appalling to anyone who takes the Bible literally.

I John 4:20 says, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

“Grab them by the TRAVESTY 10

In defense of Pence: Right for Freedom’s College

Joe Setyon

Managing Editor Unless they are living under a very dense, slippery rock, the students, alumni and faculty of Grove City College all know by now that Vice President Mike Pence will be coming to campus this May to deliver the commencement address to the Class of 2017.

A lot has already been written and said about this topic, both defending the choice to let the VP speak and arguing that he is not an appropriate choice.

The way I see it, there are two main ways to view Mike Pence as our commencement speaker: as the Vice President of the United States, and as a conservative Christian whose stances on many issues are shared by many in the campus community.

First, Mike Pence is, at least in theory, the second-most powerful human being in the nation, and possibly even the world.

He is literally a heartbeat (God forbid) from becoming the leader of the free world.

Even those who still refuse to recognize the results of November 8 (I’m looking at you, John Lewis) must at some point come to the realization that Donald Trump is our president and that Mike Pence is our vice president.

The point is, Mike Pence is a very important man.

Now, it’s no secret that Grove City College is not exactly known

for grabbing headlines across the country (not counting the occasional footnote about our famous Supreme Court case). We are a tiny school of less than 3,000 students in The Middle of Nowhere, Pa. We don’t get a lot of bignames coming to our College, and that’s fine.

As a native New Yorker, I knew exactly what I was getting into by attending Grove City.

But that’s why, when in recent years we have had nationally-known figures like Laura and Jeb Bush and Ben Carson address graduating seniors, we have had reason to get excited.

With all due respect to one illustrious former First Lady and two failed presidential candidates (one a former governor, the other a world-renowned neurosurgeon), our speaker this year simply blows everyone else out of the water.

It doesn’t matter if it’s Mike Pence, Joe Biden or even Dick Cheney; a vice president is a vice president, no matter what his politics are.

Of course, the other way to see Mike Pence is as a conservative Christian man with divisive views on many issues.

It’s also no secret that Pence was picked as President Trump’s running mate in large part due to his right-wing politics. In an election where Trump had to appeal to his conservative Christian base, Pence was the right man for the job.

He is a politician who stands for many conservative causes: defending the unborn who are still in the womb, fight-

ing for religious liberty for Christians and having the audacity to believe that LGBT+ behavior is nothing more than a sinful affront to Scriptural teaching.

Sound familiar?

That’s probably because most members of the Grove City community have heard one or most likely all three of these viewpoints espoused at one time or another by a classmate, professor or colleague.

It is not sexist, misogynistic or [insert liberal buzzword here] to invite a conservative, Christian leader to speak at a traditionally conservative, Christian college.

It is simply freedom at work: the freedom a man has to voice views that some people might not agree with and the freedom an administration has to look at its students and decide on an appropriate speaker to most fittingly send them off into the world.

And as we all know, Grove City College is a place where faith and freedom matter.

But I have heard from many on social media and elsewhere expressing shock and complaining that picking Mike Pence as commencement speaker is an affront to the LGBT and even the entire female community at GCC! What did they expect?

They chose to attend Grove City College.

They chose to stay here for four years, continuing to pay tuition and deal with all the terrible “hate.”

Now, they have one more choice in front of them.

They can go to gradu-

ation, stand there with the classmates they grew close to for the last four years and listen to a speaker for a few short minutes before saying goodbye to the place they have called home for four years.

Or, they can make a scene, protesting the supposed hateful rhetoric and actions of our vice president and disrespecting their classmates and their families.

Because this is Freedom’s College, they have the right to protest, or even to skip graduation all together, just as the rest of us have the right to show some semblance of respect and decency.

But just because they have this right does not make put them in the right.

If you are a student who takes what is meant to be a celebration of your classmates’ achievements and turn it into your own political statement, you should be ashamed.

If you are a faculty member who chooses to skip out on the Commencement speech because you do not like the speaker’s politics, you should be ashamed.

Not only are you disrespecting the Office of the Vice President of these United States, but you are disrespecting the students who worked hard to achieve something, only to have their accomplishments play second fiddle to your protest.

For those who don’t agree with his politics and who don’t think Pence was an appropriate choice, I have one piece of advice: Deal with it.

Perspectives

Page 10

April 7, 2017

How to approach depression?

Joshua Fried Staff Writer

There is a lot to be said for the promotion and use of anti-depressants, but what if there was another way to fight one’s depression in addition to the use of prescription drugs, or in the case of minor depression, in place of these drugs?

As a general starting point, it should be said that if you or a loved one struggles with depression and they use antidepressants to help them h a n d l e their depression, this article is based on a theoretical and philosophical evaluation of how to overcome depression in addition to the use of these drugs, and not to be viewed as an argument to why someone should not be using these prescribed medications.

Depression can be

THE HUFFINGTON POST

viewed at in our culture as either a mental illness caused by a number of different neurological issues or it can often be referring to a state of elongated sadness or of feeing down.

We will be referring to both.

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, Persistent Depression Disorder (PDD) affects 6.7% of Americans. To put this into perspective, this is almost double the percentage of LGBTQQIP2SAA+ according to the Williams Institute.

Using both definitions of depression, the

medical being harder to solve than the temporary feeling, is often brought on from a feeling or sense of being misunderstood and alone.

Though this approach is a gross simplification of the disease, it gives us the starting point of how we ought to think about dealing with the problem.

First off, we need to understand that every individual is an individual being. Being misunderstood is part of individuality, and if an individual is not misunderstood, they have probably not spent much time or thought

in who they are as individuals or suffer from an inauthenticity of herd mindset.

Individuals are unique, and it is crucial that they come to realize their own uniqueness in their individuality. The first step to avoiding or overcoming depression is learning who they are as individual and accepting that person.

Second, they need to discover their drive in their being. Whether they be artists, writers, counselors, etc. they need to discover what creative drive is inspiring them. It may be a need to write poetry or plays, or a need to paint, or to evaluate stocks; there is some creative force placed on the heart of every individual as individual.

Depression gains strength in the feeling of being alone and in the denial of creative drive. Every individual is created in the image of the Creator, and since the Creator is not

a concrete, finite being, his image is infinite and one piece is his image as creator.

Third, when the individual learns to accept themselves for who they are, they are able to utilize their individuality along with their creative drive to transcend themselves.

This transcending action becomes an act of worship, either purposefully or incidentally, and in realizing and accepting their drive they release tension and angst through a constructive outlet, instead of letting their drive fester within and become a darkly tempest raging within their mind.

Of course, the philosophy of a depressed literature student should be taken with a grain of salt, for it is not like psychology was born out a man’s literary criticism turning into the birth of psychology through a psychoanalysis of the human condition from some Greek tragedy.

Letters to the Editor: Tiresome and divisive It seems to me that with [Pence’s] reception the school is continuing its shift from that of a more generally libertarian philosophy to conservative sympathies. Regardless, the acceptance of nationally recognized politicians (and particularly ‘loaded’ and controversial politicians at that) is at least divisive, deconstructive, and given the frequency of such commencement speakers, tiresome.

George Daughtery ‘19

An exciting experience Regardless of your personal stance on Pence, having the opportunity to welcome the Vice President of the United States will certainly provide a memorable commencement experience for our graduating seniors, and

TRAVESTY p****” is about as far removed from John’s words as it gets.

I am not saying that Mike Pence is not a

will undoubtedly contribute to our College’s ever growing reputation as an excellent, nationally recognized institution of higher education.

Kevin Kaufman ’18

You won’t forget it Graduation is a day that I want to remember forever; I definitely will now. I’m not a fan of Pence or the Trump administration, but the main reason why I don’t agree with Pence speaking is because I can’t stand seeing the school I love align more with a political party than with Christ.”

Jason Dauer ‘17

A thrilling choice I’m thrilled for the college to take its place on the national stage!

Having been willing to stand against the worst kind of governmental

Christian, but I am saying that he has put his political goals ahead of his relationship with Christ. By inviting the Vice President to speak at commencement, President McNulty and

interference and keep its independence is truly being rewarded.

Mr. Pence’s conservative views and his moral integrity make him an excellent choice to send off this year’s graduates to face a world of conflicting ideas; encouraging them to stand strong in the face of strident opposition. I think Mr. Pence will be delighted to know Grove City College better as he meets with students and faculty, and will be happy to see that there are still colleges which strive for excellence in character as well as academics.

Amy Farley ’89

An unneeded expense Inviting Mike Pence to speak at Grove City College is no doubt a great honor, as he is the Vice President of the United States, yet it comes at the expense of students. Due to security reasons and the nature of Pence’s posi-

Grove City College have done the same thing.

They have demonstrated that they are a conservative institution first, with service to Jesus Christ coming in a distant second.

tion, graduation will almost definitely be held inside, forcing students to have a “backup-style” graduation. If I were walking this year I don’t think I could choose between my two parents, my brother who is also my best friend, and my only two grandparents.

How do you tell your family that they don’t get to see you walk and receive the first college degree in the family after generations of sacrifice and support? It hurts that the college would rather have a high profile visitor raise our name value than give this day to students to celebrate with their families, as the weather would permit.

Gabrielle Johnston ‘17

Just what we need Although bringing in Pence may feel like a risky move after such a controversial election, I would counter that bringing in a figure like him is just what our school needs at this point in time.

The decision to invite the Vice President to speak at commencement is a travesty.

I believe the invitation should be rescinded. In the likely event that it is not, I plan to

Having any famous figure deliver the commencement address at a college is a great opportunity to spread the name of Grove City College, both for the sake of the upcoming graduates and as an appeal to prospective students.

Overall, having Mike Pence at graduation is dynamically timed.

Even if he is not the preference of every student, his presence will nonetheless promote the name of the college we call our own, and for this we should be grateful.

Julia Roper ‘20

We’re better than this I think that Grove City College has lowered their standards of what Christians at look like—yes we are a conservative college, but we are a Christian college first. We need speakers that hold themselves to a high moral ground, and Pence is not that.

100 Campus Drive Grove City, Pa. 16127 collegian@gcc.edu gcc.collegian@ gmail.com Editor-in-Chief Caleb Harshberger Managing Editor Joe Setyon Section Editors News Molly Wicker Life Kelleigh Huber Entertainment Elizabeth Borcherding Perspectives Rio Arias Sports Bradley Warmhold Design Chief Karen Postupac Copy Chief Gabrielle Johnston Copy Editors Ali Kjergaard Tom Verner Hannah Sweet Rachel Reitz Section Designers Bri Doane Aly Kruger Photographer Andrew Stein Advertising/ Business Manager Jesse Peterson Staff Adviser Nick Hildebrand The Collegian is the student newspaper of Grove City College, located in Grove City, Pa. Opinions appearing on these pages, unless expressly stated otherwise, represent the views of individual writers. They are not the collective views of The Collegian, its staff or Grove City College.

GREEN EYESHADE AWARD

Abigail Hephner ‘17

use the remainder of my time here to be a voice for the Christians on this campus that do not feel represented by Mike Pence, Donald Trump or Paul McNulty.

This week’s Green Eyeshade Award goes to Rachel Riviere for her excellent work covering GCC news and events.

Congratulations Rachael!

The Green Eyeshade Award honors student contributors that demonstrate consistency and excellence in their work.

Editorial positions currently open The Collegian is looking to fill editorial positions for the 2017-18 academic year. Open spots include Editor in Chief, Managing Editor, Copy Chief, Photo Editor, Design Chief, News Editor, Life Editor, Entertainment Editor, Sports Editor, Section Designers and Copy Editors.

Highly motivated students with an interest in journalism and writing are strongly encouraged to apply. If interested, please email gcc.collegian@gmail.com stating the position you would like to apply for and explaining why you would like to join our team.

April 7, 2017

The Collegian

Page 11

Sports

Page 12

April 7, 2017

Women’s golf hosts invite Kevin Zuercher Contributing Writer

Junior Tyler Graham is hitting an outstanding .394 on the season, with one triple and seven runs batted in.

GCC

Baseball bats go cold

Brad Warmhold Sports Editor

The Grove City College baseball dropped three games last week while winning one and now stands at 6-3 in the President’s Athletic Conference (PAC) and 9-10 overall.

The Wolverines faced off against the Thiel College Tomcats last Saturday in doubleheader action at Tomcat Park in Greenville, Pa. Freshman pitcher Austin Wacker took the mound for the Wolverines in the first game, striking out seven and allowing only two earned runs while scattering five hits across six innings of work.

Though the Wolverines out-hit the Tomcats seven-to-five, they failed to plate enough runners to keep up with Thiel, falling 3-1. Senior right-fielder Nolan Myers went two for three

and senior first-baseman Matt Waugaman doubled.

In Game Two, sophomore Travis Auth came up clutch in the top of the seventh, crushing a game-tying, pinch-hit two-run homer with one out. His first collegiate home-run tied the game up at 3-3.

In the bottom of the eighth, Thiel broke the 3-3 tie when Grove City committed a throwing error while trying to complete an inningending double play with the bases loaded.

Sophomore pitcher Micah Burke pitched seven innings for Grove City, allowing three earned runs. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.

After getting swept in the double-header, Grove City struck back last Monday when the Tomcats came to R. Jack Behringer field.

Sophomore pitcher John Bini fired a com-

plete game for Grove City, striking out three in nine innings. Bini improved to 2-0 this season and 11-0 for his career.

Grove City broke a 1-1 tie by scoring three times in the bottom of the eighth. Junior center fielder Tyler Graham singled in Burke with one out, giving Grove City a 2-1 lead.

Auth then laced a two-run double down the left-field line, scoring sophomore second baseman Bobby Dulay and Graham, putting the game at a 4-1 Grove City lead. Graham and Auth both finished 2 for 4.

Following their victory, the Wolverines traveled to West Virginia, looking to complete the season sweep against the Bethany College Bison whom they defeated last weekend twice at home.

Senior pitcher Ben Finlan had a strong out-

ing on the mound, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Wolverines were shut out for just the second time this season.

Finlan tossed a complete nine-inning game, scattering eight hits and just one run over eight innings of action while matching his season-high with five strikeouts. Freshman Matt Dayton had two of the five hits on the day.

The only run of the entire game came in the bottom of the first.

The Bison got a oneout single followed by a two-out hit to take a 1-0 lead. Grove City loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but an inning-ending double play soiled the Wolverine’s scoring chances.

Grove City is scheduled to return to action on Friday, visiting W&J for a single, nine-inning PAC game at 4:30 p.m.

The Grove City College women’s golf team hosted their home invite on Saturday at the Grove City Country Club. The weather did not cooperate, as temperatures on Saturday reached only roughly 40 degrees, but nonetheless the event continued and was completed.

Freshman Taylor Horn fired Grove City’s best score and finished seventh overall with a 98. Following Horn, junior Carolyn Jack and sophomore Molly Arendt both posted scores of 108 to tie for 15th overall.

Posting the fourth and final score counting toward the team total, senior Leah Wilson placed 20th overall with a score of 113.

Sophomore Ashley Winters followed in 21st overall with a 116.

Competing individually, Ashley Donaldson and Amy Knecht posted scores of 111 and 126 to finish 17th and 22nd, respectively.

As a team, the Wolverines posted an aggregate score of 427 to place third of five in the team competition.

Saint Vincent placed first as a team with an aggregate score of 373.

Point Park followed in

second with a team total of 401. Clarion University and Waynesburg University rounded out the field in fourth and fifth with team scores of 440 and 650, respectively.

Individually, Priscilla Nevarez of Point Park University topped the field with a 90 to take home the individual win. Christan Bowshier of Clarion and Samm Firestone of St. Vincent tied for second individually each with scores of 91.

To round out the top 5, St. Vincent’s Meg Birmingham and Liz Loftus tallied scores of 92 and 94, respectively.

In their two events thus far in the spring season, the Wolverines have placed first and third.

The Wolverines returned to action last Wednesday to compete in the Carnegie Mellon University Invitational, held at Longue Vue Golf Course, and earned third place.

Jack led Grove City with a 106, good for 15th place overall.

CMU’s Summer Kitahara earned medalist with a 77. Grove City finished the day with a team score of 512. Carnegie Mellon won the team title with a 334.

Grove City returns to action April 20 at the Saint Vincent Invitational in Latrobe, Pa.

GCC

Freshman Taylor Reed shot the best score in home invite on Saturday. She placed seventh in the competition with a score of 98.

Penguins preparing for another Stanley Cup run Victoria Zulick Staff Writer The Pittsburgh Penguins have secured a chance at consecutive Stanley Cup Championships, and are most likely to play the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round.

This has been quite the season for Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby. Not only is he still considered one of the greatest ever, but this season he has managed to achieve 1000+ career points, has maintained a top five spot on the point leader board and leads the league with the most goals at 43. Luckily for Penguin fans, he’s not done yet. With a career highlight, onehanded goal against the Buffalo Sabres back in March, Captain Sid and the Pens secured their spot for another run at the Cup. As the regular season wraps up, the Penguins must begin to

CBC

Sidney Crosby is having another great year as the Pens look to defend their crown. look ahead to the near future. In second place in the Metropolitan Division and second place overall in the NHL with 109 points, they are set to play the third-place Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round.

The Blue Jackets, this years’ surprising Metro competitor, have proven tough opponents for

the Pens, with a record 2-1-1, Blue Jackets on top. Their most recent matchup took place this past Tuesday, where the Penguins dominated their last home game of the regular season, beating the Blue Jackets 4-1.

With this win, it is most likely that the Pens will have home ice

advantage during the first round against the Blue Jackets. The only thing that would change about this scenario would be if the firstplace Washington Capitals lost the rest of their games, putting the Pens in first place, or if the Pens would lose their final three away games and drop to third. Both

are highly unlikely, but nothing is impossible when it comes to the NHL playoffs.

After a Cup win last season, the Penguins are looking to go for two in a row, something they were unable to do after their 2009 Cup win. However, with the playoff clinch, the Pens have also scored the longest active playoff streak with eleven straight post-season runs.

The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, have clinched a spot for only the third time ever in their history. This playoff matchup might come down to experience, grace under pressure and scoring consistency. In Tuesday’s game, the Pens and the Jackets knew how important it was to gain the edge.

Columbus plays a hard-hitting and physical game, and are known for an extra shove or crosscheck af-

ter the whistle, but the Pittsburgh was able to manage and produce where it actually matters: on the scoreboard.

Despite Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, Olli Maata, Trevor Daley, Kris Letang, Carl Hagelin and Tom Sestito for extended periods of time, the Pens have continued to produce wins and score goals.

Goaltending has been top notch, with one of the best rookie goalies in the league, players are stepping up to fill the gaps, and management has been stellar.

The high intensity, physical series quickly approaching will surely be a great display of classic playoff hockey that everyone loves. But based on the facts, the Pens should have no problem making it to round two.

The NHL Playoffs will begin on Wednesday, April 12 and will continue well into May.