Tell Your Story

Margo: Every Expectation Exceeded

When I reflect on my time at Grove City College, my expectations were not met. They were exceeded.

I expected to be educated in a Christian environment. Not only were my professors followers of Christ, but they taught each academic discipline through a biblical lens in ways I had never considered. Each class shaped me spiritually as much as it did intellectually. The boldness and depth of Christian faith that was nurtured at GCC is what equipped me to navigate life after graduation. Even four years later, I am regularly in touch with many of my professors who encourage and guide me as I progress through adulthood and my career.

I hoped to receive an education untainted by the modern progressive influence that seems to have swallowed whole nearly every institution. Not only was I spared of haphazard indoctrination, I was blessed to learn the roots of Western Civilization, the truth of American exceptionalism, and the significance of the permanent ideas that always lead to human flourishing. The Austrian economics curriculum trained me how to think, not what to think. My appreciation for Grove City College’s commitment to remaining entirely independent of government funding grows stronger every day.

I dreamt of graduating college with lifelong friends, like my parents did from their time at GCC. Not only did I graduate with friendships of this caliber, but my social ecosystem of Grovers has only multiplied since graduation. At work, church, Alumni Council, and everywhere else, I am perpetually adding Grovers to my collection. Better yet, GCC has become a shared home not just for my parents and me, but for my in-laws. While my wonderful husband is a Grover-In-Law, I now share my alma mater with my younger brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, and cousins-in-law. How special it is to see the way God, through Grove City College, has woven together not only my friendships, but also my family.

Prospective students be warned: there is a high chance GCC will not meet your expectations, either. Grove City College has the audacity to exceed them.

Steve: Nothing but gratitude

Grove City challenged me, introduced me to remarkable friends and mentors, and connected me to an alumni network that has influenced nearly every chapter of my life. That’s a big part of why I now spend my time trying to give back to the institution that gave so much to me.

Pam: The Tie that Binds

I fell in love with Grove City when I was in high school and I knew it was where I wanted to attend. Early decision and I was set! Grove City gave me a very solid education to start my career in the business world. I was well prepared to work in Human Resources until my retirement. But the biggest impact on me are the people I still call friends. It has always been about the people for me. My friends, classmates (Yay class of 1979!), college administrators and my new group of friends on Alumni Council. The people have always been my blessings!! GCC is the tie that binds.

Steven: Affordable Excellence, Lasting Impact

As a young man of modest means, I chose a college for value. With 30 years of hindsight, I see how special Grove City College is and how fortunate I was to find it. Few places deliver a private‑college education of this quality with such affordability. It set me up for success early in my life and I understand now, beyond just the cost, how much Grove City gave me.

From my education to my wife to the ethics and skills I use every day in my engineering career, Grove City has provided me more than I can ever give in return. My engineering program taught me not just how to solve technical problems, but to think, reason, and make ethical decisions.

Looking ahead, as the level of excellence, affordability, and experience a school provides will become even more paramount, I believe Grove City will continue to distinguish itself. Grove City’s grounding in faith, independence from outside influence, core convictions, and vision for its growth will keep the college a special place for years to come.

Brian: An Unexpected Starting Place

Like some other stories out there you may have come across, where I ended up for college was an unexpected starting place. Grove City College was not on my list. It was a school I had actually never come across growing up on the Eastern side of the state of Pennsylvania. In high school, my eyes were set on studying finance and landing a career in the world of investments. I had believed that attending an East coast school with connections to Wall Street would have been my best bet. I am thankful the Lord was able to set my path to a career in asset management with a start at Grove City College.

My Dad’s friend had passed through Grove City, PA one day and came across this Christian college that looked like it was out of a storybook. Thankfully, he shared with my Dad that it might be a place worth a college visit for me. We did and I am even more thankful that it felt like the exact type of school for me to attend. Fast forward now ten years after graduating with a degree in Finance and enjoying a career in the asset management business I am thankful for my unexpected start at Grove City College.

John: A Small Institution With a Big Impact

Starting in 9th grade I was determined to become a dentist. Living 30 miles from GCC, having had my mother, uncle and brother-in-law as alumni and with a high acceptance rate at medical and dental schools, it was the only college to which I applied. Graduating number two from my high school, I was confident of being accepted. It was one of the best decisions I made. With a major in Chemistry, I had some of the best instructors with Dr. Ed Naegele as a demanding but brilliant and supportive chairman who took a personal interest in his students. Initially I was not all that enthusiastic about having to participate in the then required Air Force ROTC program for freshman and sophomore males. I learned they had a full tuition scholarship program for the third and fourth year for those who qualified for a commission as an officer. It was another good decision, as the Air Force in my senior year offered a full ride scholarship to dental school which I was very fortunate to secure, one of seven accepted in the program that year across the US. Coming from a family of modest means, the opportunity to graduate from dental school without any student loan debt was immense. The values and lessons I learned at GCC have helped shape my decisions and life path creating a course I have enjoyed and appreciated. I am most thankful to the influence and conservative foundation provided by the Board, the administration, and the faculty for the opportunities I was given. As a result of my success and a sense of gratitude, I was able to enhance the Jane Toy Shaner Scholarship with a sizeable addition of funds. I am confident that those who will be fortunate to attend Grove City College in the future will benefit from the traditions that have made this institution so successful.
Respectfully,
John W. Shaner, D.M.D, M.S.
Colonel, USAF, (Ret)
Associate Professor Emeritus, Diagnostic Sciences
Creighton University School of Dentistry
Omaha, NE

Chuck: Sacred ground for our family!

It is difficult to put into words (unless writing a book) all that GCC has meant to me and my family. In addition to the phenomenal education and the wonderful Christian fellowship and teaching, above it all I give thanks because this is the place where I met my future wife. Cheryl Abrams (class of 1980) and I were married 6 days shy of 41 years. Cheryl went to be with the Lord in June of 2021. As our son (Charlie, class of 2025) said at her memorial service, “We learned that the most special place in the world was Grove City College, particularly Harbison Chapel.” There are many reasons but a few of them are these: We got engaged in the Chapel. We got married in the Chapel. I got ordained in the Chapel. I preached a weekday chapel service in the Chapel. I performed a wedding in the Chapel. I played the piano for four years for the Gospel Team in the Chapel. We had our wedding photos taken in the Chapel gardens. Today, there is only one plaque in those gardens and it is in memory of my sweet wife, Cheryl. Grove City College is sacred ground for our family! Our youngest son, Caleb, is also a graduate of GCC (Class of 2021). I am very proud of my school for the high value that is placed, not only on the educational standards but also the character and intergrity that is expected of incoming students and facalty. Grove City College has its best days ahead!

Steve: Built by Discipline, Driven by Purpose

When I first arrived on campus as a student at Grove City College, I knew I was stepping into something different. I didn’t yet have the language for it, but I could feel it immediately. This was a place that expected more of me. More discipline. More focus. More personal responsibility. More growth, not just academically, but spiritually and intellectually.
At the time, I might not have fully appreciated how rare that environment was. Looking back now, I see it clearly. Grove City College didn’t just educate me, it formed me.
The expectations were high, and there was no way around them. You had to show up. You had to do the work. You had to think deeply, write clearly, and engage seriously with the material. There was an unspoken understanding that excellence wasn’t optional; it was the standard. That kind of environment can feel demanding when you’re in it, but it builds something lasting. It built resilience in me. It built discipline. It built the ability to stay committed even when things were difficult or inconvenient.
Equally important was the faith-based foundation woven into the experience. This wasn’t simply about adding a spiritual layer to an otherwise traditional education. Faith informed the entire framework, how we approached truth, how we understood purpose, and how we were challenged to live with integrity. It created a context where questions mattered, where conviction mattered, and where character mattered.
That combination, rigorous academic expectations and a deeply rooted sense of purpose, became a defining influence in my life.
When I graduated and stepped into the real world, I began to see how much of an advantage that formation provided. In my career as an author and speaker, discipline is everything. Writing requires consistency long before it yields results. Speaking requires preparation, clarity, and the ability to communicate ideas that resonate. There is no shortcut to doing that well.
The habits I developed at Grove City College, the ability to focus, to think critically, to push through resistance, became the foundation of my professional life. The same discipline that got me through demanding coursework became the discipline that allowed me to write when I didn’t feel like writing, to refine ideas until they were clear, and to continue building a career over time rather than expecting immediate success.
Just as importantly, the emphasis on faith and purpose shaped the “why” behind what I do. My work isn’t just about producing content or delivering keynote speeches; it’s about impact. It’s about contributing something meaningful, something grounded in truth, something that serves others. That perspective traces directly back to the environment I experienced at Grove City.
As Grove City College celebrates 150 years, I think its impact is more relevant than ever. We live in a time where distractions are constant, expectations are often lowered, and purpose can feel fragmented or unclear. Grove City stands as a counterexample, a place that calls students to rise to a higher standard, to think deeply, to work hard, and to anchor their lives in something enduring.
For the future, that matters. It matters a great deal.
The world doesn’t need more shortcuts. It needs more people who are willing to do the hard work, intellectually, professionally, and personally. It needs individuals who are grounded in conviction, disciplined, and committed to using their gifts with purpose. That’s what Grove City College cultivates.
I am grateful for the role it played in my life. The lessons I learned there didn’t stay on campus; they became the framework on which I have built my career. And if my experience is any indication, Grove City’s legacy isn’t just in its history, it’s in the lives of the people it continues to shape for generations to come.

Benjamin: A Grover’s Journey

My Grove City journey began at a college fair in my hometown when my History teacher suggested I visit the Grove City booth in 1995. I added GCC to the schools I was considering, including the University of Cincinnati and General Motors Institute (now Kettering). After multiple visits, meeting Dr. Clauss, and talking with my parents, I decided on Grove City—if I was accepted. Looking back, there was no way I could have fully appreciated what a life changing decision that would be. My primary considerations in choosing Grove City were the environment, the size, and the cost. I grew up in a Christian home, attended a small-town high school, and was going to be paying (or borrowing) for college myself. Reflecting, the person I would marry, churches we’d attend, the work I would do, how we’d raise our children, and even where our oldest child would attend college all were impacted by that single decision. Because my time at Grove City would be formational in my worldview, theological grounding, career perspective and purpose, and more.

I grew up in Northwest Ohio on a (very) small farm. I have two brothers and one sister. My dad worked in a foundry and then a machine shop, and I started working with him during the summer when I was 14. I developed a curiosity and creativity around mechanical design and working with my hands to create things. Two of my uncles are engineers and enjoyed the work they did and allowed their nephew to explore AutoCAD at a young age. I was good at math and science and decided pretty early in high school I wanted to be an engineer.
Reflecting on my time at Grove City, I remember feeling driven (it was difficult and a LOT of work!), challenged (I was thinking about who I was and who God is differently than I had), and anxious for what was next. The engineering curriculum was challenging and demanding, and there wasn’t a lot of spare time. Freshman year, I played string bass in the orchestra and I joined the Tri Rhos my sophomore year. As I recall, I played intramural ultimate frisbee, football, softball, and basketball with the Rhos and served as our Chaplain senior year. I also worked as a security guard in Siberia during the school year and had two summer jobs until the summer between my junior and senior years, when I landed my first and only internship with Delphi Packard.

So there wasn’t a lot of free time, but I do remember quiet moments of reflection and prayer in Harbison some evenings and many walks around the campus enjoying the beauty of each season. Of course, whatever was left of my “spare” time vanished starting at the Graffiti dance freshman year, where I (literally) bumped into a girl from Texas, Diane Schaeffer (’01). Diane and I started dating not long after that and shared many of those walks across campus together over the next four years. We were engaged the summer before our senior year and married the September after we graduated in 2001, two weeks after 9-11. We shared time together during intervis, in the Gee, studying in the library, attending the Crimson Ball and other school dances and events together, and grew closer to each other during our time together at GCC. This year, we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, and I’ll be forever grateful that God led us both to Grove City and to the same time and space at the 1997 Graffiti dance.

Specific classes and professors that stand out to me include Bib Rev with Dr. Thrasher, Calc II with Dr. Thompson, Fluids with Dr. Clauss, Design with Dr. Reuber, and Senior Design with Dr. Archibald. I also really enjoyed Dr. Allison’s classes, as he brought his practical experience to the coursework in a helpful and relatable way. I have no doubt that my education prepared me for my career and, more importantly, helped shape my values.

I started my professional career two days after graduation in Houston, Texas, as a Design Engineer with Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America. Today, I serve as the Vice President of Engineering for Designed Conveyor Systems, where I lead a remote team of over 100 engineers in the design and integration of automated material handling systems for the likes of Amazon, FedEx, UPS, Walmart, and others. I am most proud of our family and the values our kids live. Not perfectly, but consistently. They know what they believe and love others. On the professional side, I’m most pleased with the culture change I have been able to implement in multiple organizations and the leaders of people we have developed in the process. Which, again, goes back to knowing what we believe and loving others.

A few years ago, as our oldest son was making his own decision to attend Grove City, we realized that he would be a “legacy” student. That term, legacy, that we use for second generation Grovers is really what it’s all about. The legacy of what we do lives on in the impact we have on the lives of the people we live and work with—our families, our coworkers, and our friends. And I think that’s the real story of Grove City College for me. The legacy of that one decision to attend Grove City has had such an impact on my own life and on the lives of the people I’ve lived and worked with. Not perfectly, but thanks to the grace of God and for His Glory, the legacy is made in the day-to-day ordinary living of life over those four years on campus and in all the years since. And I believe that legacy of impact will continue in my own life and in the lives impacted by all alumni, students, and future Grovers because of who Grove City is and the ongoing commitment to independence, academic excellence, and Christian character 150 years after its founding.

Gregory: GCC campus tour, to LECOM! A “FAITH-BASED” decision in college, major, and career!!

During our Daughter’s Junior and Senior years of high school, Elisabeth toured numerous schools and campuses throughout Ohio & Pennsylvania, explored many others on-line, and contemplated various majors in college from Engineering, to Optometry, and Pre-Medicine. During our first tour, we were very impressed with the traditional design and beauty of the campus. Obviously, it’s a very hard decision for both students and parents alike. While at first, Grove City College(GCC) may not have been first on the list, as time went on, additional visits to campus ensued for scholarship interviews, and Grove City College quickly climbed to the top of her choice of schools and majors! While each school and program had many pros and cons, the beautiful and safe campus, friendliness of the students, strong academic record, overall affordability for an out-of-state private school, faith-based Christian mission, and affiliation with the Lake Erie College of Medicine(LECOM) Early-Acceptance Program directly out of high school were ALL a perfect fit for college and undergraduate studies prior to medical school. Elisabeth said, “it felt like home!!” As Elisabeth’s Father, with a life-long career in medicine as a Family Physician, and her Mother, as a longtime Pharmacist as well, we couldn’t be any prouder of Elisabeth and how she has grown and matured academically, personally, and in her Christian faith since her time at Canfield High School in Canfield, Ohio at GCC!!! We look forward to her future graduation, and the next phase in her medical education to begin and thank everyone at GCC for nurturing, protecting, and teaching her in such a beautiful campus environment and community she, or we, will never forget!!!!

Gary: ‘Grove City Groovin’

So thankful for astonishing memories at the beautiful campus and surrounding region!🙌. Bowled a league sanctioned 300 game – first ever in Slippery Rock.! 🏆
Lettered as a baseball manager, played IMO sports,
And experienced incredible friendships.
After 12 years in sales and management, called to evangelize JESUS and pastor. ☦️ Led to serve in West Virginia, Pa. and Florida. Thank You.
Gary Fuss. 🕊️
Agape Rom.8 / Eph.4

John Paul: Lost but Found: The Search for Identity

Grove City College started as my least likely choice—a small, random college in Pennsylvania and the only school I was and considering outside of the other 6 I had been accepted to in my home state of Michigan. Grove City was thr furthest and least practical as well as the least familiar….and yet after a lot of prayer and an impressionable visit during a admitted students day, I decided to commit, and life became very real shortly after.

During my freshman year, my mom made the decision to leave my dad after 34 years of marriage. At the same time, I began to realize that my faith had been a shallow façade—something I used to make myself feel good. That realization came as I spent time with people who had a genuine knowledge and love for Scripture, and a relationship with Christ that I didn’t even know was possible in my arrogance and ignorance.

Being able to grow as a young man, surrounded by professors who offered not only knowledge but also wisdom, is something that’s hard to overstate. On top of that, I was surrounded by peers who sharpened me and pushed me to grow. The education I received gave me an in-depth, Christ-centered view of the world and prepared me to pursue a career with confidence—grounded in a perspective that brought hope and peace, knowing my identity was rooted in Christ rather than in my accomplishments.

On top of all that, I met my wife and formed lifelong friendships. During that same season, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Even in that hardship, I was supported and surrounded by friends and professors who prayed for me, helped prepare me to say goodbye, and walked with me through grief—grief that, by God’s grace, carried an underlying sense of peace despite the pain of losing a parent.

Grove City didn’t just prepare me professionally—it helped lay the foundation for me to become a better son and husband. And now, as my wife and I have stepped into foster care and welcomed our first placement this past year, it has also shaped me into a better foster dad.

My hope is that one day my children will also discern a path that offers them the same kind of development—intellectually, but even more importantly, spiritually—that I was blessed to experience.