Madelyn Braho<\/a> · Staff Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn The Princeton Review\u2019s 2025 college rankings, Grove City College placed in the top three on five different metrics. Being ranked so high in student religiousness, friendliness and conservativeness should be no surprise to anyone here. Chapel is only a small part of the spiritual life of the campus, with numerous Bible studies and faith-related clubs and organizations advertised all over notice boards. Conservative too is self-explanatory. And again, being ranked the second-friendliest school in the country is easy to understand with such a strong emphasis on community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One ranking might be cause for some serious consideration, however. The college was also ranked number three most \u201cLGBTQ-Unfriendly.\u201d This is ironic, considering the \u201cSecond Most Friendly\u201d title we also have claimed. How, or perhaps why, is it that these two can co-exist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the uncomfortable answer is that it\u2019s very easy to be friendly when almost everyone is like you. The Princeton Review also reported that Grove City\u2019s student body is over 90% white, and it\u2019s fairly evident that we are mostly Protestant as well. The Newman Club and the Orthodox Christian Fellowship may be present on campus, but their voices are dwarfed by the Reformed Presbyterians and Evangelicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christ said in Matthew 5:47 that \u201cIf you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.\u201d For us here at Grove City, it really is easy to be friendly and to welcome everyone, not necessarily because we follow Christ, but because we do not have to stretch much to love our neighbors as ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we come back to being ranked so high for being unfriendly to the LGBTQ community. If our love, and even our tolerance, is conditional on someone trying to erase part of themselves, what is our love to others even worth? If we are so willing to turn on even our brothers and sisters in Christ who are queer, what does that communicate to others? Is our love conditional for those of different political opinions, too? Are we welcoming until we might have to acknowledge the world outside of what we know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no merit in being nice to people just like you. It\u2019s incredibly easy. If all we ever do is stay in our own little bubble full of people like us, then we will miss out on the glorious variety of humanity. Participating in and enjoying those takes effort and an intentional non-judgmental attitude. Instead of assuming that we already know everything \u2013 and what a comically prideful perspective that is \u2013 we should humble ourselves and be willing to learn from others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And on the point of our LGBTQ-unfriendliness, the irony of which should clear, perhaps it would be wise for us to read about the variety of Christian perspectives about queerness. After all, listening to someone does not mean we must agree with them, but in doing so we recognize their God-given ability to reason. And who knows, maybe in doing so we can better earn our reputation of friendliness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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