By Brae Sadler · Contributing Writer
I support Grove City College’s statement of faith. One of the primary reasons I came here was the college’s explicit mission of “faith and freedom.”
Each of us needs to renew our dedication to the faith at critical moments. The same is true of institutions like Grove City College. As we approach our 150th anniversary, we need to dedicate ourselves to Christian excellence within our institution.
At the same time, no person or college is perfect, and reconciling our beliefs with our actions is part of the Christian life. One area where Grove City College can improve is by ensuring college policies follow the spirit of our new statement of faith.
Currently, The Crimson Student Handbook contains policies that contradict the statement of faith. The college should change The Crimson to align its policies with our values.
The Crimson contradicts the statement of faith on the first page. The “Student Responsibilities” section encourages students to have “freedom from discrimination or prejudice.” Today, we tend to view discrimination negatively, and prejudice carries connotations of bigotry.
But this is far from the truth; certain kinds of discrimination and prejudice are good. For example, many of you are dating with the end goal of marriage. One important part of compatibility is finding someone who shares your faith. As Christians, you ought to date another Christian, thereby discriminating against non-Christians.
Nor is prejudice always bad. Paul tells us, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9). In other words, we are supposed to be automatically opposed to immorality and ungodliness. Of course, we should never discriminate against someone based on race or sex, but to say that discrimination or prejudice is never appropriate is untrue.
In fact, Grove City College engages in prejudice and discrimination. All faculty and certain staff must sign the new statement of faith to remain at the college, and all new faculty hires will be required to sign it as well.
Even before the statement of faith, the college discriminated against non-Christians and maintained prejudice against other faiths, violating the same advice it gives to students.
Additionally, Policy K in the “Civility and Respect” section of The Crimson (located in the Community Life chapter) threatens the expression of ideas found in the statement of faith. The policy classifies “language or symbols that denigrate race, sexual orientation or religion” as contrary to the college’s mission of being a “Christ-centered living and learning community.”
However, the statement of faith denigrates other religions as untrue by asserting the singular truth of Christianity. Additionally, by supporting marriage as between one man and one woman and affirming the creation of only two genders, the statement implies that homosexuality is sinful and that transgenderism is false.
The beliefs expressed in the statement of faith, therefore, denigrate other religions and lifestyles, placing them in violation of Policy K. I am unaware of how Policy K is enforced, but similar policies at other colleges have been used to shut down discussions surrounding faith and ethics.
What should the college do? The policies in The Crimson were created with good intentions, but they contradict the college’s statement of faith. Grove should revise these policies to align them with our stated goal of Christian excellence.
