{"id":1213,"date":"2026-01-23T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/01\/23\/2026-01-23-cementing-gccs-innate-doctrine\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:11:13","slug":"2026-01-23-cementing-gccs-innate-doctrine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/01\/23\/2026-01-23-cementing-gccs-innate-doctrine\/","title":{"rendered":"Cementing GCC\u2019s innate\u00a0doctrine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Eli Wick<\/a> · Contributing Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 150 years, the college we call home has upheld a tradition rooted in evangelical faith and classical liberalism, shaping the academic and spiritual development of its students with the aim of cultivating a thoughtful, united and diverse network of minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insofar as the college has held a common goal, the benefactors of such an academic group have expanded, but there now lies a danger to this benevolent presence. The lack of a concrete doctrine could quickly lead to an ambiguous identity throughout the faculty, causing irreparable damage to the learning environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weight borne by the college teeters visibly on the administration\u2019s shoulders, lending every considered action an outsized gravity. But that same weight can just as easily collapse upon the students who rely on the college for nourishment and direction if not steadied with care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vision of our institute, constructed by Pew and MacKenzie and carried along by each subsequent pass of the baton, has allowed the current administrators a chance to chisel in stone a doctrine innate but finally cemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue with a lack of documentation regarding an expectation of faith doctrine from faculty members is that the prolonged exposure to worldliness has tainted a well-meaning congregation. As students who have chosen a Christian institution precisely because of its commitment to biblical teaching, we must ask why instructors were previously given leeway, whether intentionally or not, to support behaviors that fall outside the college\u2019s own stated doctrine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not as though those currently employed by Grove City College were particularly snuck up on by this. In fact, the contracts signed by each member of the faculty this past year strongly alluded to, if not plainly stated, an expected affirmation of the college\u2019s goals and beliefs, perfectly consistent with those at its founding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granted, the effectiveness of any institutional statement lies not only in the intentions behind it, but also in how it is received by the community it seeks to guide. It remains to be seen whether the board\u2019s vision will align neatly with the response of the faculty, whose perspectives inevitably include a range of pedagogical philosophies, disciplinary commitments and theological traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some, the statement of faith may serve as a welcome affirmation of what Grove City College has always stood for; for others, it appeared to raise questions concerning the diversity of thought being exhibited by the faculty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many are of the opinion that a documented statement of faith could lead to forcing out a large population with a strong, dissenting paradigm. However, it is important to distinguish between the indoctrination of a student under an ideology and a healthy acknowledgment of its existence and influence on the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On paper, it appears that the college has no intention of pushing out the people who disagree, considering that no student will ever be made to sign this document. Simply put, the presence of an ideology on campus can just as easily live through a textbook as it can through a practitioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agenda of the college is made clear and complete in the statement of faith, leaving no room for doubt for an incoming student or a new hire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is abundantly clear from both the words and actions of the board of trustees that the statement of faith was presented to the faculty in good faith, with the intention of establishing a unifying and rallying creed. However, it remains to be seen whether this intention aligns with the document\u2019s actual reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students at Grove City College now look ahead with heightened interest, anticipating the developments that soon follow this significant chapter in the college\u2019s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 150 years, the college we call home has upheld a tradition rooted in evangelical faith and classical liberalism, shaping the academic and spiritual development of its students with the aim of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":[16,94,41],"class_list":["post-1213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinions","tag-editorial-perspectives","tag-eli-wick","tag-issue-2026-01-23"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"For 150 years, the college we call home has upheld a tradition rooted in evangelical faith and classical liberalism, shaping the academic and spiritual development of its students with the aim of","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1213"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1819,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions\/1819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}