Grove City College: My School

So, if you have read any of my "about me"s you know that I'm a college gal. I've never really talked about where I go to school before though....so here it is! I'm first going to share just a little bit of info on the school, and then the interesting stuff like our funny quirks :)

I go to school at Grove City College, a small school about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. Grove City stands for three things: rigorous academics, authentically Christian, all at an amazing value.  All three of these things are what attracted me to the school. I've always worked hard in school to get good grades so I wanted to find a college that would be a challenge to get into. Thus, even though you may have never heard of Grove City doesn't mean it is not a good school.  When they say rigorous, they mean it. We are smart little kiddos here at this school. Haha, I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything...it just bothers me that people assume a small school that not many people have heard of must not be that good.  The school is also truely authentically Christian. From the students to the faculty, religion is not hid here, but promoted and nurtured. And it all does come at a pretty good value: total tuition & room and board costs for a semester are a little over $10,000, about half as expensive as other schools like GCC.

So, that's a little of the basics. Here's the quirky fun stuff you may not find on a college fact sheet:

1.  We have a thing for marriage.

Grove City is known for pairing people up. When freshmen are brought into orientation here, they are told: "Look to your left, Look to your Right, Your future mate might be in sight." At the opening convocation chapel last year our president spoke of relationships away from people at home saying "Absence makes the heart grow stronger...of someone else." One of our most popular classes here is Courtship and Marriage. Grove City just loves to see it's students paired off. There is pressure for senior girls to have their "ring by spring" (don't have to worry about that one anymore!!) Then, after said female is engaged, it is tradition to plaster the walls outside her dorm room with engagement posters. 

2. We throw people in Creeks

After happy couples do get engaged, it is tradition to ambush the future groom, have a group of strapping young lads hoist him onto their shoulders, and carry him allllll the way down campus with a swarm of people chanting "Wooooolf Creek. Woooolf Creek" and proceed to dump him in said creek.  If the fiancé is not standing by with a towel waiting to dry her man off, he is allowed to throw her in too.

3. Diversity? What's that?

According to College Prowler, our school is 94% white, 1% African American, 2% Asian, 1% Hispanic, and 1% International.  It's not that we are racist in the least (promise!!), our school is just...very white for some reason. The 1% black isn't joking...I think I can count 10 black people at our school. oh. er. wait. maybe 9? We did have a new Indian freshman this year. That was new and exciting. We do have an Intercultural Club though! Check out the diversity at this table:

     

4. Our Campus is Super Safe

Unlike most college campus, ours is extremely safe. I've never locked my dorm room. None of my friends do either. People just don't steal things here. You could leave your laptop/ipod/wallet sitting out for a whole freaking week. No one would take it....and if they did, it would just be to turn it in. The campus safety officers are notoriously known for being very rough on parking tickets...because they simply have nothing else to do.

Worst thing we've probably had happen in recent memory is a Panda attack. Yes. that is not a typo. A Panda attack. It was in the news and everything. 

Money bins like this from someone selling stuff before moving out are not uncommon. Yes, this is in a public hallway.

5. Shoe goes where?

When "intervising" with your significant other in their dorm room (only Fridays from 7PM-Midnight, Saturdays 1PM-Midnight, and Sunday 1PM-6PM), make sure you leave a shoe in the door, a light on, and that your visitor of the opposite sex is signed in.  

I present to you Grove City's birth control method of choice: the shoe.

6. When you say you are a Grover...you don't mean the sesame street character?

Thats correct. Technically, to become a "Grover," you must be a freshman girl who gets kissed on rainbow bridge by an upperclassman. However, now the term is just loosely used for any student of the school.  The bridge is very pretty though. I'd recommended some smooching on it for sure.  It's just as good with someone who isn't a grover too, fiancé and I tested just to be sure :)

source

7. The Government Doesn't Give us Money
Due to the Grove City vs. Bell supreme court case, Grove City does not receive federal funding, and consequently students cannot receive any need based funding from the government to attend this school. I think we are one of like, three colleges in the US who is like that...however, don't quote me on that.  The Grover Board doesn't like being told what to do by the invisible hand. Thus, if we don't take their money, they can't tell us what to do. It sounded a lot more professionally put in the court case than that though...

Ronald Reagan was all for Grove City during the case.  He's kind of the school's home boy. If we ever had to change our mascot from the Wolverines, I'm pretty sure we would become the Reaganites.

8. Scotch and Soda, hold the Scotch.
 We are ranked 12th for the the most stone-cold-sober schools. Some of the mentionable people who beat us are the US Coast Guard Academy and the US US Air Force Academy. I bet their RAs are a little more scary than ours all...

9. We live in a bubble
The "Grove City Bubble" is what we live in on campus.  Within our bubble, we are all upper-middle-class conservative protestants who all get along in a beautiful environment that fosters learning and relationships. Ok, the bubble is really refereed to as a joke...but there is some truth to it.  We worry what happens to some students when they leave this bubble and are exposed to the "real world."

10. Myth? Legend? Truth?
1. Someone got expelled for throwing their printer out a window. 2. Snipers sit on-top of Rockwell, the science building here and shoot anyone who walks on our grassy, neat-kept quad. 3. The school expelled someone for being a gay porn star.
So which ones which? I'll let you figure it out on your own.

Source
See? Perfect sniper look out :)

Well, there is my school in a (humorous) nutshell. I have enjoyed it thus far. After three more finals today and tomorrow, I will only have one more semester left here, and I will miss it. Although....I should probably go study now. Rigorous academics, remember??