{"id":2742,"date":"2026-10-09T01:06:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T01:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2026-10-09T19:36:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T19:36:20","slug":"megan-basham-and-the-thoughts-of-the-masses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/10\/09\/megan-basham-and-the-thoughts-of-the-masses\/","title":{"rendered":"On Megan Basham: Time heals some wounds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Liliana Shadlow \u00b7 Contributing Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WIKIMEDIA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something I\u2019ve found writing for the college paper is that trying to cover a news story rarely leaves you with material you can use in the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News stories are designed to be informational, unbiased and should \u201ctell it like it is,\u201d but catching people on the street and holding spontaneous interviews rarely leaves a reporter with untainted facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week\u2019s edition of The Collegian contained what could have been a controversial story: a piece on Megan Basham\u2019s recent speech at the college. But compared to the information gleaned while conducting interviews about the event, the story itself seemed a bit milquetoast. (I can say that because I wrote it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily for interested readers, The Collegian offers more than just a news section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I can dive into the hard-hitting opinions on Megan Basham that I collected but left out of my last article, I need to give you a brief history lesson on Basham and Grove City College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2020, during a regular Wednesday chapel service, a guest lecturer named Jamar Tisby spoke on what he called \u201cThe Fierce Urgency of Now.\u201d His 20-minute lecture took a passage from the book of Esther and used it to speak on Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Lives Matter movement (of which he did not express either clear support or disapproval) and how the racial tensions of the day are what could be called \u201csuch a time as this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are living in the modern-day Civil Rights Movement,\u201d Tisby said. \u201cFreedom, justice and democracy, especially for black people and other people of color, are in imminent danger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspiring words? Inappropriate for a chapel message? Regardless of your knee-jerk reaction, you could probably find another person on campus who feels the same; his lecture received very, very mixed reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, parents, students and alumni filed a petition opposing his message and a handful of Grove City course materials, student trainings and coursework they believed went against the principles the college stood for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Grove City College Board of Trustees released a report condemning teaching what it labeled \u201cwokeness\u201d and \u201ccritical race theory,\u201d a second petition was released that encouraged Grove City to apologize to Tisby and \u201cnot censor or silence viewpoints or perspectives that promote understanding the world around us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you feeling the controversy yet? It gets even more complicated. This entire scene was brought into the national spotlight by a handful of notable Christian figures, authors and reporters, one of whom was, you guessed it, Megan Basham, a journalist and podcaster for The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, she drew attention to the report the board published, saying it addressed the issues at hand and was comprehensive in its analysis. Basham then touched on the Grove City controversy in her 2024 book, \u201cShepherds for Sale,\u201d where she listed Grove City as a school that fell victim to progressive ideologies but got back on the right track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This September, the story came full circle. Basham, despite openly criticizing Grove City a few years ago, came to campus as part of the Institute for Faith and Freedom\u2019s Conservative Mind Lecture Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In speaking with students before and after the event, it seemed most had no idea who she was. However, among faculty, it was a different story entirely. Everyone I spoke to knew the name \u201cMegan Basham,\u201d and, surprisingly, it wasn\u2019t from the lecture series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many professors felt Basham and other journalists blew things out of proportion and caused the college permanent damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One faculty member referred to Basham as being \u201cwrapped up in the Christian nationalist movement,\u201d while another said she was \u201cdivisive\u201d and \u201cdehumanizes people.\u201d Another faculty member said that Basham\u2019s performance as a reporter is \u201cnothing but shock value; it\u2019s fear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another faculty member said having Basham on campus was a poor choice, regardless of whether she spoke on the controversy in 2022, saying that she uses her platform to accuse people of being \u201cwolves\u201d (in reference to her book) simply for being connected to other problematic people. \u201cShe gets facts wrong,\u201d the professor told me, \u201cand she talks wrongly about other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One faculty member simply referred to the entire event as \u201codd,\u201d saying, \u201cI\u2019m not surprised the Institute for Faith and Freedom brought her, but I am surprised Grove City brought her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty also expressed concern about what associating with Basham said about Grove City College. \u201cSo many people that she\u2019s criticized are good people,\u201d one professor said. \u201cBy extension, by platforming her, we\u2019re agreeing with her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not all faculty were concerned with her coming to campus. \u201cI\u2019m encouraged by her coming to campus \u2026 her coming here is a sign of her endorsement of us,\u201d said one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One student said hosting Basham on campus was a good sign of progress on behalf of the college, and that bringing her to campus allowed her to reevaluate Grove City as an institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basham herself said she felt well-received during her time on campus, referring to Grove City students and faculty as \u201cso gracious\u201d and \u201cwelcoming,\u201d while also saying she was very pleased with Grove City as an institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do I think? I think I\u2019ll keep reporting and interviewing and leave you intelligent readers to formulate your own opinions. When it comes to Megan Basham, that is something we certainly aren\u2019t lost on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Liliana Shadlow \u00b7 Contributing Writer WIKIMEDIA Something I\u2019ve found writing for the college paper is that trying to cover a news story rarely leaves you with material you can use in the news. News stories are designed to be informational, unbiased and should \u201ctell it like it is,\u201d but catching people on the street […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[215,9],"tags":[169,29],"class_list":["post-2742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","category-perspectives","tag-liliana-shadlow","tag-perspectives"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/10\/Megan_Basham_53911298321-scaled.webp",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/10\/Megan_Basham_53911298321-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/10\/Megan_Basham_53911298321-300x200.webp",300,200,true],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/10\/Megan_Basham_53911298321-768x512.webp",768,512,true],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/10\/Megan_Basham_53911298321-1024x683.webp",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/10\/Megan_Basham_53911298321-1536x1024.webp",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/10\/Megan_Basham_53911298321-2048x1365.webp",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"puruckermt24","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/puruckermt24\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Liliana Shadlow \u00b7 Contributing Writer WIKIMEDIA Something I\u2019ve found writing for the college paper is that trying to cover a news story rarely leaves you with material you can use in the news. News stories are designed to be informational, unbiased and should \u201ctell it like it is,\u201d but catching people on the street…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2742","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\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2742"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2887,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2742\/revisions\/2887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}