GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College will host a two-day conference on “Faith, Freedom and Higher Education: A Vision for the Soul of the American University” on April 16-17 on the Grove City College campus. Registration is required.

The conference examines the significant mind-forming, character-forming and culture-forming institution of higher education. The annual event sponsored by The Center for Vision & Values, the campus think tank, features numerous scholars and commentators, including keynote speakers George Nash, author and senior fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal, and Dr. Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University, Grove City College Trustee and nationally syndicated columnist. Other speakers include George Marsden, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Michael Medved and Annette Kirk.

Nash is an intellectual historian, lecturer and author of seven books, including of “The Conservative Intellectual Movement since 1945,” considered the definitive study of conservatism in America during the last half-century. He is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Historical Society, the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, the Churchill Centre and is currently president of the Philadelphia Society, the nation’s oldest organization of conservative intellectuals. Nash graduated from Amherst College and received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University.

Williams is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a nationally syndicated columnist. He has more than 150 publications in scholarly journals; authored six books, such as “America: A Minority Viewpoint” and “The State Against Blacks,” which was later made into the PBS documentary; made scores of radio and television appearances including “Nightline,” “Firing Line,” “Face the Nation” and “Crossfire”; and is also an occasional substitute host for the “Rush Limbaugh” show. Williams holds a B.A. in economics from California State University, Los Angeles, and both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from UCLA. He also holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia Union University and Grove City College, Doctor of Laws from Washington and Jefferson College and Doctor Honoris Causa en Ciencias Sociales from Universidad Francisco Marroquin, in Guatemala, where he is also Professor Honorario.

The cost for the conference is $25 per day, plus $50 per day for lunch and dinner. The total cost for the two-day event with all meals is $150. Those interested in registering can log on to the conference’s Web site at www.grovecityconference.com/faith-freedom-and-higher-education or contact Brenda Vinton at (724) 450-1541 or blvinton@gcc.edu.

The conference schedule follows. All lectures will be in Sticht Lecture Hall of the Hall of Arts and Letters unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, April 16

10 a.m. Opening remarks by Grove City College President Richard G. Jewell ’67 and Executive Director of the Center for Vision & Values Paul Kengor

10:15 a.m. “The Soul of the American University” by George Marsden, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame

11:30 a.m. Lunch in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“G.K. Chesterton on Higher Education” by Joseph Pearce, writer-in-residence and associate professor of literature at Ave Maria University

1 p.m. Q&A with Annette Kirk, president of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal and publisher of cultural quarterly, “The University Bookman”; interview by Dr. John A. Sparks ’66, dean for the Alva J. Calderwood School of Arts and Letters

2:30 p.m. Simultaneous Panel Discussions
Panel 1: “Why Robust Faiths are Better Off Being Excluded from Higher Education,” a discussion featuring Darryl (D.G.) Hart, Intercollegiate Studies Institute director of academic programs, with responses by Grove City College professors Drs. Paul Kemeny and Steven Jones
Panel 2: “What Would Lewis and Sayers Say on Higher Education” with professors Drs. James G. Dixon and Janice Brown, Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center

4 p.m. Spotlight: “Grove City College Abroad: How Our Educational Philosophy Plays Overseas,” an interview with International Education Director Dr. Lois Johnson by Dr. Steven Jones

5:30 p.m. Dinner in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“Faith, Freedom and Grove City College: 25 Years After the Landmark Grove City College Supreme Court Case” by David Lascell, Grove City College Trustee and Grove City’s chief counsel during 1984 Supreme Court case, Grove City College v. Bell

7 p.m. Conference Keynote Address: “God and Man at Yale Revisited” by George H. Nash, author and senior fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal

Friday, April 17

9 a.m. “The Mission of the Christian College Today” by Dr. Gary Scott Smith ’72, chairman of Grove City College history department

10 a.m. Simultaneous Lecture and Panel Discussion
Lecture: “How to Keep a Christian College Christian” by Dr. William Anderson, Grove City College provost and vice president for academic affairs
Panel Discussion: “The Beginning and End of Higher Education” by Dr. Michael Coulter ’91, professor of political science, and Dr. Mark Graham, associate professor of history, Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center

11 a.m. Live radio broadcast, “The Matter at Hand” by Larry Weidman, WGRC radio, Hall of Arts and Letters Atrium

11:30 a.m. Lunch in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“Medved on the Jewish University” by Michael Medved, nationally syndicated radio personality and host of the “Michael Medved Show”

1 p.m. “Tenure in Higher Education” by Naomi Schaefer Riley, a “Wall Street Journal” editor and author of “God on the Quad”

2 p.m. Simultaneous Panel Discussions with Grove City College professors
Panel 1: “The Digital Classroom: Two Views of Technology in Higher Education” with Drs. William Birmingham and T. David Gordon
Panel 2: “Sacred Ground? Land and Higher Education” with Drs. Andrew J. Harvey and Jason Edwards, Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center

3 p.m. Simultaneous Panel Discussions with Grove City College professors
Panel 1: “Freedom of Thought? Academic Biases in Higher Education” with Drs. David Ayers and Mark W. Hendrickson
Panel 2: “Faith, Freedom and the Hard Sciences: Challenges and Issues for Christian Scientists in the Modern Academy” with Drs. Jan Dudt and Glenn Marsch, Recital Hall, Pew Fine Arts Center

3-6 p.m. Live national radio broadcast of “The Michael Medved Show” with Michael Medved, Hall of Arts and Letters Atrium

5:30 p.m. Dinner in Mary Anderson Pew Dining Hall (for registered attendees only)
“Professor Marx: Communism and the Classroom” by The Center for Vision & Values Executive Director Paul Kengor

7 p.m. Conference Keynote Address: “Faith, Freedom an the Free Market: Teaching Economics at the American University” by Dr. Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University, Grove City College Trustee and nationally syndicated columnist, Crawford Hall Auditorium

8 p.m. Closing Remarks