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Collegian The Award-Winning Grove City College Student Newspaper
Friday, April 23, 2021
Vol. 106, No. 20
Good grief!
Profs talk Classic ‘Charlie Brown’ takes the stage verdict Lauren Ness Copy Editor
After COVID-19 canceled their program last semester, Grove City College’s Children’s Theatre is happy to resume and produce “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” this weekend. Regarding the choice of musical, Theatre Program Director Betsy Craig said, “I am concerned that because of the plethora of things available on the Internet, kids are not as attuned to some of the ‘great’ children’s characters. And though the characters from the cartoon Peanuts by Charles Schulz are wonderful children’s characters, they also speak a lot of philosophical adult truths as well.” Senior Thomas Andrews, playing Charlie Brown, added, “The Peanuts franchise is incredibly nostalgic for a lot of people. And after the year we all have had with the pandemic, I think the campus could use something comforting and familiar.” The Children’s Theatre has been around for over 50 years and performs a show annually. Its origins stem from a beloved traveling children’s theatre troupe that performed plays at various school districts. When the troupe dissipated, the local school district asked Grove City College to continue the tradition and thus the Chil-
Collegian Staff
JOSH WANEK
Children’s Theatre will put on ‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Bown’ tonight and tomorrow in Ketler Auditorium. dren’s Theatre was created. stacles to allow for a live show derstudies were added this Now, they perform a sin- with a live audience, the crew year in case any of the main gle show, usually a musical, is not deterred. The show’s cast members needed to and invite local schools to main cast is six students, quarantine unexpectedly. attend. The shows are stu- plus five understudies, with During rehearsals, each student-directed; this year, se- around 30 total students to dent remains masked and niors Sean King and Meghan make the show possible. Walsh are co-directors. Senior Molly Miller, playCHARLIE BROWN 9 While COVID-19 poses ob- ing Snoopy, noted that un-
Few cases after spring return David Zimmermann News Editor
Upon return from spring break, students were welcomed back with free surveillance testing for COVID-19. Provided by the college, testing took place in the IM Room of the Physical Learning Center from March 7 to 9. To limit the spread of the virus, students were encouraged to get tested either by their own choice or through random selection. Student Life and Learning (SL&L) informed the student body in an April 2 email that “those who have been exposed to large crowds, traveled by plane, bus or train or have other reasons to believe they have had a heightened risk of exposure” should participate. According to Vice President of SL&L Larry Hardesty, the college performed Abbott’s rapid antigen tests on 125 students. Results returned within 15 minutes, faster than the PCR test which normally takes up to two or three days for its turn-
around time. Hardesty commended the rapid test saying, “Two of the five students who tested positive during the first week back were identified because of this effort.” “Zerbe has also tested an additional 40 symptomatic students using antigen testing, and this tool has been extremely helpful to our COVID response,” he added. Sophomore Eve Lee was selected for random testing. She said the rapid testing process, along with its time efficiency, “was well organized and not hard at all.” Senior Courtney Mattey chose to get tested due to her participation in the Philadelphia ICO trip. “Though we had limited exposure to people outside of our team, I felt it would be wise to test just in case because we had just spent so much time in the city,” she said. Since the return from break, 14 students have tested positive, according to myGCC’s COVID-19 Positive Test Dashboard. Hardesty said this is “concerning as
these cases seem to coincide with the uptick within the region and are in some cases unexplained.” Which is why he was appreciative of approximately 15 students who decided to stay home rather than immediately return to campus after Easter. “Their wisdom in limiting contact with other members of our community following contact with a positive, the onset of symptoms or a positive test was key to a healthy reset” for the semester, Hardesty said. Though most have not tested positive, up to 70 students have been placed in Q1 or Q2 since their return from break. At the time of publication, 19 students were in Q1 and 17 students were in Q2. One of these students placed in Q1 was sophomore Meredith Johnson. Johnson, who received
her vaccination shot the day before classes resumed, was placed into isolation in one of the hotels next to the Grove City Premium Outlets. “It was a bit unlucky to be put into isolation after getting vaccinated, but I totally understand since it hadn’t yet been two weeks from my vaccination,” she said. “I’m just thankful that once I am released, I will be fully vaccinated and exempt from future quarantine and isolation.” Two and a half weeks away from the school year’s end, Hardesty said that “we cannot lower our guard as finals and commencement approach,” that limiting contact lists is “more important than ever.” However, he is “proud” of students and faculty “for taking the steps needed to get to this point in the semester.”
A Minnesota jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of the death of George Floyd on Tuesday. Chauvin was found guilty of three charges – second-degree murder, thirddegree murder and seconddegree manslaughter. The trial verdict was met with approval and support by many, including Grove City College professors, entrepreneurship professor Dr. Cedric Lewis being one of them. Having watched televised coverage of the trial, he was relieved hearing the verdict but remains “apprehensive.” “I reminded myself that this is only step one,” he said. “We will be waiting for the sentencing phase.” Chauvin’s sentencing hearing will take place in two months during the second week of June. A precise date will be announced later. Chauvin is currently facing up to 75 years of incarceration with all three charges against him. Second-degree murder carries with it a maximum of 40 years in prison. Though Lewis believed the verdict was a huge win for justice, he said we still have a long way to go. “We are seeing some accountability. A man has still lost his life, a child her father and another man’s life is seemingly ruined. We can’t ignore the fact that this all came with a heavy price.” “Change will come with changed hearts and minds. One verdict won’t do that,” Lewis added. While running errands shortly after the verdict’s announcement, Lewis was encouraged by the strangers who approached him saying “they were happy justice was served.” He hopes people will not lose sight of the bigger picture. Dr. Gina Blackburn ’94, who teaches Cultural Diversity and Advocacy with Lewis, also responded to the verdict. “I was thankful, but I was not joyful,” Blackburn said. She also suggested ways the college community could become anti-racist. “Spend the summer reading works that help you see your blindspots. Our campus will be better for it.” “There’s much work to be done,” Lewis said. “I look forward to continuing these conversations, especially the difficult ones.” Lewis prays that more students will engage in this topic by taking his and Blackburn’s class. The class broadens students’ multicultural awareness and discusses how Christians should respond to VERDICT 3