By Liliana Shadlow · Staff Writer
Grove City College’s newest publishing imprint, Faith & Freedom Press, is now lining bookshelves with original titles focused on preserving conservative and Christian ideals.
Formed in conjunction with the Institute for Faith & Freedom (IFF), this imprint aims to perpetuate “Christian faith and the foundations of a free society” and provide writers an outlet to share those ideas openly.
The inspiration behind it is to pick up the torch.
“The publishing industry is really in turmoil,” Paul Kengor, IFF’s executive director and professor of political science at Grove City, said. “A number of really successful conservative publishing houses have gone out of business.”
To combat this, Faith & Freedom Press wants to publish works that preserve the values on which Grove City was based: truth, light and liberty.
The book “Born of Ideas: How Principles, Faith, and Courage Forged America” is the first product of the press. Written by Grove City alumnus Lawrence Reed, “Born of Ideas” compiles essays that highlight the principles of the American founding, such as religious liberty and classical philosophy. Readers can dive into the worlds of well-known and almost anonymous figures who shaped America in its earliest form.
Although this initiative is still new, Grove City students are already formulating opinions about the new endeavor.
“I think the IFF has already put out a lot of great articles from people they have on board, so the press is the next logical step for them. … I’m interested to see how the research the IFF has already done takes off,” Abby Ramaley, Institute for Faith & Freedom scholar and freshman philosophy major, said.
Ramaley also highlighted that the press has an opportunity to reach a new audience.
“We’ve reached the point where we aren’t just catering to people who already agree (with our beliefs),” she said. “It’s us making steps to get out into the broader world.”
Intending to publish at least three books a year, there may be plenty of opportunities to appeal to a wide variety of interests both within and outside Grove City.
Faith & Freedom Press will appear on platforms like Amazon and Google Books.
Faith & Freedom Press joins other Grove City College publications, including The Collegian, The Echo and The Quad. Faith & Freedom Press, however, will be the first publication to focus on full-length books.
Two additional books the press will soon publish are “God and AI,” by Brian Dellinger, and “Ronald Reagan and Race” by Kengor. Both authors are Grove City College faculty writing from their specific fields of computer science and political science, respectively.
Readers can expect both Kengor’s and Dellinger’s books to be published within the next school year.
Kengor will assess the 40th president’s history and the controversy surrounding his views on race.
“I’m writing the book defending Ronald Reagan on the issue of race, an issue where Reagan has really been wrongly maligned, vilified and even demonized,” Kengor said.
