{"id":1313,"date":"2026-02-20T08:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/02\/20\/2026-02-20-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:10:56","slug":"2026-02-20-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/02\/20\/2026-02-20-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith and freedom fight is key moment in GCC\u00a0story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Mia Gallagher<\/a> · Celebrate 150 Correspondant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Former
Former Grove City College President Charles MacKenzie talks with students gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court to support the college in 1983. \u2014 GCC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrove City College recognizes the priceless value of our freedom. It knows that freedom is made up of many parts: religious, social, economic, political and individual. It knows, too, that freedom is indivisible; that when any one of these parts is taken away, that which remains is no longer freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many of the college\u2019s key historical figures, former Board of Trustees Chairman J. Howard Pew saw Grove City College as a pillar of faith and freedom in a broken and tumultuous world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And like its motto, \u201clux mea,\u201d the college is called to illuminate this world with the radiant values it stands for \u2014 faithfulness, excellence, community, stewardship and independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-four years ago, Grove City College\u2019s commitments to faith, freedom and its values were challenged. The college\u2019s decision to fight to uphold these commitments is a key inflection point in its history and continues to influence the higher education landscape today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Feb. 28, 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Grove City College v. Bell \u2014 a legal battle that began almost a decade earlier when then-President Charles S. MacKenzie refused to sign a federal Title IX compliance form assuring the federal government that the college wouldn\u2019t engage in gender-based discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the rest of the country, MacKenzie\u2019s refusal to officially sign off on Title IX was baffling \u2014 especially considering the college did not oppose the law\u2019s intent and had never discriminated against women or anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So then, what was the problem? College leaders saw the government\u2019s demand as a threat to Grove City College\u2019s institutional liberty: its ability to teach what it wanted the way it wanted to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government was essentially asking Grove City College to sign a blank check for its own future and its freedom. So, this was really much more of a question about whether or not there would really be meaningful independence and private enterprise when it came to the issue of higher education,\u201d former college President Paul J. McNulty \u201980 said in a 2014 interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe resistance of Title IX aligns with Grove City College\u2019s historical values of faith and freedom in the idea of maintaining its independence as a private college. They feared government inference would impact the college\u2019s ability to make decisions that were in the best interest of the college and its mission in the future as they didn\u2019t know what the law could eventually become,\u201d Director of College Archives and Galleries Hilary Walczak \u201909 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal government threatened to withhold funding from colleges and universities that didn\u2019t sign off on Title IX. But since Grove City generally eschewed taking taxpayer money \u2013 training programs for service members during the world wars and some New Deal funding for Ketler Hall\u2019s construction were among the very few exceptions \u2013 that threat initially fell flat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in late 1977, federal student grants and loans were formally recognized as aid to the college. The college didn\u2019t see it that way, arguing that the aid went to students, not the college, and sued the Department of Education over the determination. What started out as standing on principle for self-determination evolved into a lengthy legal battle over the college\u2019s right to autonomy and financial freedom for its students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 1983, the case found its way to the Supreme Court. Although the college fought hard \u2014 doubling down on its refusal to take federal assistance and emphasizing the injustice perpetrated by revoking student aid \u2014 the Court delivered a split verdict: Student grants and loans were federal aid to the college, but the federal oversight only applied to the financial aid office that accepted the aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The college was at a crossroads. It could allow students to use federal grants and loans and surrender a little bit of institutional control, or it could stop participating in student aid programs and remain true to its core convictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grove City College agreed to withdraw from federal education grant programs in 1984. In place of these grants, the college developed its own financial aid system, generously supported by the philanthropic contributions of its donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe college wanted to keep the student loans but had to make the choice to give them up. Ultimately, having independence, academic integrity and freedom of religion is important, and being able to maintain that freedom is a victory for the college in the long run,\u201d Walczak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court case was national news, and the verdict prompted the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the \u201cGrove City Bill\u201d in 1984, which required schools taking any federal money to comply with Title IX in all areas of college life. It failed in the Senate but was revived, renamed and approved by Congress in 1988 as the \u201cCivil Rights Restoration Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill, saying he wouldn\u2019t \u201ccave to the demagoguery of those who cloak a big government power grab in the mantle of civil rights.\u201d The veto was eventually overridden by Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fulling extracting the college from the federal student loan program took until 1996. The college\u2019s ability to accept GI Bill students and continue its long-running Air Force ROTC program were among the casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Devan Lindey, a history professor at Purdue University, researched the case for his doctoral thesis. Lindey said it had important implications for higher education. \u201cConservatives learned a lesson in the aftermath: the importance of bankrolling private educational institutions to teach conservative values to a younger generation outside any purse-string interference with federal aid,\u201d Lindey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He expressed that it set an important precedent that a few other colleges and universities have followed. \u201cThere is a laundry list of colleges and seminaries that follow this model now. The big ones people usually identify are GCC and Hillsdale though,\u201d Lindey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an article commemorating the 40th anniversary of the case, McNulty discussed the case\u2019s impact on the college\u2019s legacy. \u201cLosing the Supreme Court case was one of the best things that has happened to Grove City. It seems counterintuitive to assert that declining federal funding has strengthened the college\u2019s financial sustainability and affordability, but this is truly the case,\u201d McNulty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur alumni and friends have stepped up magnificently to support the college\u2019s independence and allow us to build a financial aid program that far exceeds what the federal government currently offers and raise millions to replace federal grants for research and facilities,\u201d McNulty said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MacKenzie
MacKenzie was a forceful advocate in the college\u2019s fight for institutional independence. \u2014 GCC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"College
College leaders and lawyers in GCC vs. Bell. \u2014 GCC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGrove City College recognizes the priceless value of our freedom. It knows that freedom is made up of many parts: religious, social, economic, political and individual. It knows, too, that freedom is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[186],"tags":[16,47,70],"class_list":["post-1313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","tag-editorial-perspectives","tag-issue-2026-02-20","tag-mia-gallagher"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-20-05-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story-1.jpg",1280,1097,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-20-05-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story-1.jpg",150,129,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-20-05-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story-1.jpg",300,257,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-20-05-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story-1.jpg",768,658,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-20-05-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story-1.jpg",1024,878,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-20-05-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story-1.jpg",1280,1097,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-20-05-faith-and-freedom-fight-is-key-moment-in-gcc-story-1.jpg",1280,1097,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"\u201cGrove City College recognizes the priceless value of our freedom. It knows that freedom is made up of many parts: religious, social, economic, political and individual. It knows, too, that freedom is","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313","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=1313"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1745,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313\/revisions\/1745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}