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On May 13, 2022, the College's Board of Trustees made the following statement regarding Critical Race Theory: "The College’s rejection of Critical Race Theory’s politicized worldview must not be confused with indifference to racial minorities or racial discrimination. To the contrary, we cheerfully embrace the biblical teaching that God’s kingdom includes people of all nations, races, cultures, and ethnicities."
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GCC's Students for Ethnic Awareness and Diversity (S.E.A.D.) group seeks to "provide a safe and inviting atmosphere in which all students may engage in communal reflection and reconciliation on matters concerning race, ethnicity, and culture."
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On March 1, 2022, the online publication Inside Higher Ed published an article titled "An ‘Oasis’ From What?" which discusses how Grove City College is addressing accusations of Critical Race Theory being taught at the College. The article reported that a GCC committee was recently formed to investigate accusations of "mission drift." The College also released a statement which "denounced" Critical Race Theory as being "antithetical" to the College's mission. The statement was a response, in part, due to a petition signed by several hundred concerned parents and alumni which stated, "From what we’ve observed, a destructive and profoundly unbiblical worldview seems to be asserting itself at GCC, threatening the academic and spiritual foundations that make the school distinctly Christian...that worldview is critical race theory" which “denies our fundamental equality, dividing humans into two categories, oppressors and the oppressed. If you are white, your nature is intrinsically racist, even if you don’t know it.”
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On April 13, 2022, the College published a document titled "Report and Recommendation of the Special Committee" which discusses allegations that the College has introduced Critical Race Theory into its programming. In response, the committee outlines its rejection of CRT and stated in part that "GCC rejects CRT’s determination to view human behavior through the lens of race" and that "The Board has already said that it 'categorically rejects Critical Race Theory and similar ‘critical’ schools of thought as antithetical to GCC’s vision, mission, and values'."
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On October 20, 2016, GCC reported that it hosted Dr. Wil Del Pilar, Pennsylvania’s deputy secretary of Education in the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education for a meeting with the Greater Pittsburgh Higher Education Diversity Consortium. Del Pilar "talked about the state’s postsecondary and higher education plans with members of the consortium, which is dedicated to guiding and facilitating transformative change to promote diversity, equity and inclusion at the region’s colleges and universities."
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The College's "Diversity at Grove City College" webpage states the following: "The next generation of leaders must be equipped with the skills to address cultural change and differing viewpoints. Many lessons can be attained in an environment that is multicultural, intellectual, and social. Therefore, increasing diversity among our community not only creates opportunities for the students who enroll but also enhances the educational experience for all."
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A WordPress website was created titled "CRT@GCC -The Grove City College Downgrade" which contains a comprehensive list of articles, petitions and GCC statements on the subject of Critical Race Theory in GCC education. Since 2020, there has been a growing controversy on whether or not CRT has been taught and implemented within the college. This resource contains arguments from all sides, including administrators, faculty, students and alumni.
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On December 6, 2021 Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College published an article titled "Do I teach at a Woke School?" and discusses whether or not "wokeness" has crept into GCC's educational programming. Trueman states the following: "I myself am passionately committed to saving education from wokeness. I am a member of the James Madison Society at Princeton University and the National Association of Scholars, both of which have a keen interest in maintaining the importance of academic freedom and excellence on campuses." The Professor went on to say that "At the center of the storm surrounding GCC was an invitation to Jemar Tisby to speak in chapel." According to Trueman, "Tisby has been on a long journey, from RTS [Reformed Theological Seminary] poster child in 2015 to working for Ibram Kendi’s outfit in 2021."
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The Institute for Faith and Freedom at Grove City College published a resource webpage containing various articles on civil rights and racial injustice which include "Racial Admissions Preferences: Constitutional or Not?," "Troubling New Research on Political Bias and Bigotry," and "1776 and Slavery."
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Full-time GCC Faculty members published a petition titled "An open letter to the Grove City College Board of Trustees" which discusses the emerging influence of Critical Race Theory at the college. The petition states the following: "To restore Grove City College’s institutional reputation, to ensure faithful adherence to its historic mission and identity, and to secure its long-term financial health, we therefore ask that you take the following actions in response to the recent CRT controversy: Conduct a full and independent review of the actions undertaken by the College President and Executive Leadership Team over the past three months in response to the CRT petition and provide a public report detailing the findings of the investigation; Conduct a full and independent review of the structures, policies, and practices currently used for establishing new initiatives, hiring personnel, constituting and populating committees, and communicating institutional actions to the faculty and provide a report to the campus community detailing the findings of the investigation; and take corrective action as warranted by the findings of the above investigations."
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On November 29, 2021 the American Reformer published an article titled "Trouble Brewing within a Conservative Citadel" and discusses the possible emergence of Critical Race Theory at the college. The article also links to Jemar Tisby's GCC chapel speech from October 20, 2020 in which "he preached from the book of Esther about the 'Urgency of Now'.” In referencing the summer 2020 protests, Tisby argued the following: "In case you weren’t sure, this is the civil rights movement of our time. It’s happening right now. How you are responding in moments like this is exactly how you would have responded in the 1950s and 60s." Tisby continued to say, "We are living in the modern-day civil rights movement. Freedom, justice, democracy, especially for black people and other people of color, are in eminent danger, just as the Jews faced danger."
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On November 29, 2021 the American Reformer published an article titled "Trouble Brewing within a Conservative Citadel" and discusses the possible emergence of Critical Race Theory at the college. The article also links to an October 13, 2020 GCC talk by Christopher Merrick who stated the following at GCC: "White people, look in the mirror, ask yourself if you are in these positions where if you feel if you were being marginalized and oppressed, how would you want to be treated? Pursue some of this justice with your black brothers and sisters, it would go a long way, it truly would … until you are just as outraged and broken by these things, we won’t see things change…Black people – I see one in the room – don’t forget who Jesus is … continue to give grace."
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On November 23, 2021, GCC's Institute for Faith and Freedom's Executive Director (Professor of Political Science) Paul G. Kengor published an article titled "Critical Race Theory: Myths, Marxism, and More." Kengor introduces the topic by stating the following: "Few modern topics have become as divisive as critical race theory, which is no surprise, given that CRT divides. It divides people into groups pitted against one another, into categories of oppressed vs. oppressor. What’s worse, your group defines you. This certainly flies in the face of the Judeo-Christian conception of all individuals as children of God made in the image of God."
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On December 13, 2021 Lee Wishing, Vice President for student recruitment at Grove City College published an article titled "Sparks are flying at Grove City College" which discusses the growing controversy of the possible emergence of Critical Race Theory at GCC. Wishing stated, "Grove City College has been taking a lot of heat lately. Some of it is understandable though much of it is undeserved. The heat source is a petition by parents about race-related conversations that have taken place on campus over the past few years." He also said, "The leftward drift of colleges and universities is all too familiar to parents today. The debate about teaching CRT in K-12 public schools is, as one parent told me, very present." Wishing concluded in part by stating, "What you can’t see are the conversations taking place in leadership and faculty offices about the legitimate matters of parental concern, but they are taking place. I’ve known of such conversations for nearly three decades and I can tell you that they take place quietly with great care for the image-bearers involved. Grove City does not handle these matters in the blogosphere."
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In 2020, Edward Breen, CEO of GCC and DuPont Corporation, wrote a letter to colleagues at Dupont titled "Our Commitment to Advancing Racial Equity and Equality" and stated, "Rest assured, our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) remains broad but this moment in history demands a specific and targeted response to the daily and persistent racial injustices that Black Americans endure." Breen also said, "I am personally committed to advancing equity and equality—these also happen to be key themes in my work with the Vatican’s Council for Inclusive Capitalism and as a Catalyst Champion."