Pomp and Circumstance

By Nick Hildebrand

As he addressed the Class of 2021 at Commencement, Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty recalled a rare total solar eclipse a few days before they arrived on campus as freshmen in 2017.

“If you happened to be in the narrow path of totality, you would have witnessed a darkening sky in the middle of the afternoon and then the reappearance of the bright sun moments later,” he said. “Light. Darkness. Light. Was this a foreshadowing of your final two years at Grove City College?”

The crowd assembled in the Quad on May 15 for the first large gathering on campus since the pandemic began more than a year earlier understood exactly what he was saying. The graduates left campus en masse in their junior year and returned for a senior year of in-person learning that was marked by countless adjustments to keep the virus in check. With vaccinations widespread and case counts dropping by the day, it looked like that the pandemic was receding. McNulty noted the “emerging restoration of life after Covid” and asked the graduates if there was common lesson in “extraordinary events.”

“Has your education here equipped you with a lens through which you might observe such experiences? May I suggest this perspective: There is a biblical pattern, as you have been taught. Creation. Fall. Redemption. Light. Darkness. Light. And this great plan of redemption – helpfully illustrated by eclipses, pandemics, and much more – produces in God’s people a clear understanding of everlasting hope, a hope which you are now called to take to a world in desperate need of genuine hope. Life’s hardships and disappointments are unavoidable, but how you respond to these circumstances will determine the course of your life.”

Student speaker Kaitlyn Bennett ’21 said the hardships helped students gain a deeper – and “bittersweet” – understanding of community. She tracked the class’ progress from freshman year, finding fellowship, studying hard, and learning to invest deeply in the things that matter through daily interaction with friends and faculty. That came to a halt on March 16, 2020. “I know you remember that day, the way impending absence loomed more threateningly than any storm cloud. Experiencing an absent community during a global pandemic illuminated our deep-seated need for human fellowship,” Bennett said. Diligent effort, “Grover grit,” and perseverance brought the College community back together.

“Together, we have experienced a cherished community, an absent community, and a rebuilt community – but because of this unique experience, we leave fully equipped to be initiators of Christ-centered community,” she said.

Later that day, the College held a second commencement exercise for the Class of 2020. When last year’s ceremony was postponed due to the pandemic, the College made a promise to honor the graduates appropriately when it was possible.

“That time has finally arrived,” McNulty told members of the class who returned to receive their diplomas. Commencement speakers often talk about the unknowns ahead and offer wisdom to deal with them as graduates start of a new journey, he said. “However, you have already commenced. You are already in the first chapter of life after college. You are learning what living faithfully after GCC is all about … Your 20-20 vision is clearer than it was a year ago and certainly much sharper than it was in the fall of 2016. I congratulate you for your perseverance and your exceptional success.”

Fox News host and former Bush administration spokeswoman Dana Perino addressed both classes via video. 