By Emily Fox · Editor-in-Chief
Grovers past and present gathered to celebrate the college’s 150th anniversary at Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh last Friday.
The evening began with a reception where old friends reconnected and mingled with faculty members, recalling memories of their time at Grove City College. A musical tribute, performed by several college bands and ensembles, followed the reception.
Lisa Adams Gordon ’78, alumna and award-winning television news anchor, producer and reporter, welcomed attendees, and then President Lingo ’00 began the event by delivering remarks about how the college’s history has prepared it for a bright future.
The college’s wind ensemble opened the concert with “The Star-Spangled Banner” before performing three other selections, two of which continued the theme of honoring the spirit of the nation: “American Overture” and “Americans We.”
Next, the audience watched a video tribute to the college’s history, highlighting its consistent values through the decades and its participation in national events, such as the world wars and its Supreme Court case in 1984, Grove City College v. Bell.
The college’s women’s choir, the GCC Singers, performed the next three selections of the concert, beginning with “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and ending with “Let the River Run.”
At the end of the performance, Willie the Wolverine stole the spotlight, and juniors Jesse Richardson and Zachary Kappel entertained the audience with a brief history of the college’s mascot. Willie was not the college’s first mascot, as Grove City was originally represented by a wolf. Once Willie entered the picture, SGA petitioned to preserve him as the college’s mascot.
Richardson and Kappel emphasized that Willie’s story speaks to the power of believing in something and making it happen.
The touring choir took the stage next, performing “Let Everything That Hath Breath” with junior Sarah Altman accompanying the choir on the piano and junior Peter Hasse playing the bass. The choir sang two more selections before Music Department Chair Jeffrey Tedford spoke on behalf of the department.
Tedford acknowledged that it was fitting for the college to celebrate its 150th anniversary as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary.
“Grove City College would not exist in most other countries,” Tedford said, emphasizing that our nation protects the college values of faith and freedom.
Tedford then directed the Symphony Orchestra in Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, “Reformation.” The orchestra’s second piece, “Make Our Garden Grow,” featured vocal performances by alumni, faculty and current students. College voice teacher Sasha Peastro-Tedford and senior Nora Russell were featured sopranos, college voice instructors Claire DeArmitt and Charles Dugan sang the mezzo-soprano and tenor voice parts and senior Liam Cummings sang baritone.
Chair of the Board of Trustees Edward Breen then spoke about how the college is “small-town USA at its finest” and how all of us participate in the future of Grove City College.
“The future of Grove City doesn’t belong to any one of us or a generation—it belongs to all of us. … The best chapters of Grove City College are not behind us; they are just beginning,” Breen said.
The audience then watched a compilation of students, faculty and alumni wishing the college a “happy birthday” before the event closed by inviting the audience to join the combined ensembles in singing the college hymn, “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past,” and its alma mater, “’Mid the Pines.”
Gordon gave final remarks, and the concert ended by tributing the U.S. one more time by singing “God Bless America.”
