“Make the campus beautiful, for that in itself is an education.”
-Joseph Newton Pew
These visionary words of the then-chairman of the Board of Trustees at Grove City College are etched in stone on the side of the Breen Student Union. Each day, students, faculty, and administration pass this reminder that the intellectual life cannot be separated from aestheticism; the place of learning, much like the place of worship, must have a backdrop fitting of its endeavor. The “look” of the academy does not necessarily strive after visual attractiveness alone, but seeks to be worthy– worthy of the honor of facilitating the cultivation of the mind and soul.
A beautiful campus provides an education in duty and love. The patrons of Harbison Chapel, the Harbison brothers, sold their house to build a chapel that would be used for generations. The Harbison Brothers made incredible sacrifices knowing they would never meet students like me who use the chapel for weekly worship. They made this sacrifice because of their duty to, and love for, posterity. These places of beauty function as a reminder that we carry the same duty. We build not from a place of pride or to seek outward adornment, but as 1 Peter observes, to portray a gentle and quiet spirit.
The academy always understood that beauty and learning were inseparable. As Mary Eberstadt writes, “architecture embodies ideas.” Plato’s Academy was set in a garden, adorned with statues, art, and surrounded by nature. The famed universities of western civilization, from Bologna and Oxford to Harvard and Yale, do justice to their callings of training the world’s brightest with buildings that enhance the scholarly pursuits of its academics.
Grove City College understood this as well. Harbison Chapel remains our signature venue, and even our buildings that are not explicitly religious reflect God’s beauty: MAP South Lobby, Staley’s atrium, Rockwell tower, or even the President’s House come to mind. Everywhere you go on campus, there is a clear continuity of a vision of Grove City College as a foretaste of God’s kingdom.
Yet there are places where Grove City’s vision seems oddly absent. The college recently poured $9 million into redesigning Buhl Library. For $9 million, one would be forgiven for dreaming of something akin to the modest yet profound libraries of Oxford University. However, far from indulging the childlike wonder of the sweeping libraries of the Beast’s castle or Hogwarts, Grove City chose to indulge something different: sterilized practicality and caffeine cravings.
For $50 million, the campus’s lead science building is undergoing an interior renovation. “Sterilized practicality” is a fitting description of these renovations as well. Those in charge of Rockwell’s renovations want to make the building a modern hub for science and technology; one would think a liberal arts academy like Grove City would prefer a hub for human beings who do science. This distinction would require a focus on beauty Impact 150 does not possess.
The redesign of these buildings lack any connection to the past. History is everywhere at Grove City College: inscribed on walls, manifested in statues, and immortalized in art. Yet there is nothing historical, or artistic, about the jarringly out-of-place design of the Chick-Fil-A, or MAP dining hall’s new seating. The College auctioned off several centuries-old classical paintings donated by the Pew family instead of giving them a loving campus home like a library. But everyone knows, instinctively, that such beautiful art would have no home in Buhl Library.
When Grove City College celebrated its 125th anniversary, the College honored its past by installing a statue of J. Howard Pew, a pious Christian whose unwavering support of the college reflected his commitment to educating generations of Godly men and women. The College surrounded Pew’s statue with a prayer garden, a quiet place for reflection and peace.
As Grove City College nears its 150th anniversary, the College is stripping the name off Rockwell Hall, “modernizing” the building, and installing a new sports center. None of these actions are intrinsically harmful to the school’s mission. However, these actions, when considered with their broader context, illustrate a clear pattern of disregard for campus beauty. For the leadership of the Impact 150 campaign to stress the “[preservation] of the classic exterior of Rockwell Hall,” gives away the game. There is a greater interest in keeping a certain “look,” then cultivating beauty in any meaningful way.
The drift Grove City has experienced in its calling to make the campus beautiful suggests that the Board of Trustees may need to be reminded of Pew’s words. The design of a campus building may seem an unimportant or subjective debate. Such an assumption is patently false. The Christian understands that the physical is a manifestation of the spiritual. In these repositories of wisdom, the formation Grove City College promises is provided. Those who love Grove City must possess dedication to preserve Grove City’s greatness.
As President McNulty once wrote, “the physical beauty of our campus… [supports] the truth that place matters. God made a world that reflects his glory and men and women in his image. There is a vital connection between human flourishing and beauty.” Those at Impact 150 would do well to observe the truth of his words.
