Standing Strong

For 150 years, Grove City College has powerfully promoted faith, freedom, and the pursuit of excellence. Grove City College is perhaps best known for its 1984 Supreme Court battle with the federal government over financial aid—a case that led the college to reject all federal funding. But the history of Grove City College goes much deeper and has cut against the grain in many other ways. From its Reformed theological foundation, focus on Western civilization and the humanities, teaching of Austrian economics, low tuition cost, refusal to provide tuition discounts, and commitment to biblical orthodoxy and traditional moral values, Grove City College is one of the few schools in history to start down the road toward secularization and reverse course and reclaim its historic Christian mission. This heritage makes Grove City College unique in the annals of American higher education.

For 150 years, Grove City has stayed true to its mission: providing a Christ-centered education that shapes men and women of sterling character and strong conviction who strive to serve God and people. Along the way, the college has confronted and overcome many significant challenges—two world wars, a major economic depression, the pressures of anti-Christian philosophies, a clash with the federal government, the declining number of college-aged students in the Northeast, and a global pandemic—emerging each time stronger, more vibrant, and more committed to its founding principles.

Author Biography

Gary Scott Smith is Emeritus Professor of History at Grove City College, where he taught from 1978 to 2017 and chaired the History Department and coordinated the Humanities Core. He earned his MDiv at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and his MA and PhD in History at Johns Hopkins University. In 2001, Smith was named Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Smith, who specializes in American religious history, is the author or editor of twenty books, including Strength for the Fight: The Life and Faith of Jackie Robinson (2022); Duty and Destiny: The Life and Faith of Winston Churchill (2021); Religion in the Oval Office (2015); Heaven in the American Imagination (2011); and Faith and the Presidency (2006). His op-eds have appeared in the Washington Post, Newsweek, USA Today, and other major newspapers and magazines.