By Anna Kasianides · Copy Editor
Faculty Follies, a longstanding Grove City College tradition, was held in Crawford Auditorium on Jan. 31.
Each year, this local/college staple provides the perfect opportunity to see professors in a different light — literally. The show is a collaboration between many of the professors and includes everything from funny skits to parodies of rock music played by Crimson Floyd — an all-professor band.
“We’re not just all about grades and rigorous academics,” Dr. Timothy Sweet said. Sweet organized Crimson Floyd, contributing slideshows and his drumming expertise to this year’s event. “We’re real people who love to have fun and find joy in poking fun at ourselves, not taking ourselves too seriously.”
The event kicked off with “old guys playing old tunes for a new generation of Grovers,” Dr. Donald Shepson said.
Crimson Floyd made its debut as Undirection in the fall of 2014, resulting from a student’s idea of creating an all-professor band for the beloved annual event. Their first year performing, they parodied a song by the famous One Direction, changing their name the following year to Crimson Floyd after parodying “Another Brick in the Wall.” While the faces of the band may swap from year to year, the name stuck since this monumental moment.
Omicron Delta Kappa, one of the college’s honorary societies, sponsored Faculty Follies and contributed a student committee that directed, recruited, advertised and wrote most of the skits for the event. Faculty Follies was also the result of a lot of work and coordination on the part of the professors.
“It’s a chance for students to see us as people first,” Dr. Richard Sabousky said. “They realize we care about them, not just their grades.”
Sweet organized the slides, contributed to the parodies and took silly photos of faculty members to ensure the event was a hit.
“I want the people to have fun. That’s really my goal — to make the audience smile, laugh and just enjoy themselves while we do our thing up here,” Sweet explained.
The whole point of Faculty Follies is to foster an environment of connection and relationship building between the faculty and students.
“This is more than a performance,” Sweet said. “It’s a way to bring people together and strengthen relationships that go beyond the classroom.”
In that respect, Faculty Follies was a hit. The appearance of the Grove City College President Lingo and first lady Lingo featured as the DuoLingos caused the crowd to go wild with laughter. The students chuckled throughout the comedic skits and Dr. James Bibza’s Snapple facts sequence. They roared with laughter when Mr. Toad from the fall semester’s musical “The Wind in the Willows” performed a parody with the professors. The event as a whole served to break down barriers for both students and faculty, allowing for room to build lasting relationships and cultivate a strong campus community.
“Students forget faculty are people too,” Sabousky said. “There’s things we like to do that we don’t do in a classroom … we have the same needs, wants, desires, injuries as anyone else does.”
When asked what Faculty Follies provides for the faculty, Sabousky said, “It makes us more human. We forget that sometimes.”
