Editorial: Grove City suspends reason

When Grove City College administrators discovered student John Gechter had a secret life as a… When Grove City College administrators discovered student John Gechter had a secret life as a gay porn star, the college suspended him from May 2009 until the fall 2010 semester. According to Gechter, a molecular biology major, he only needed two more courses to graduate, and would have completed them by the end of the summer.

Grove City is a private Christian institution, and therefore it can legally discriminate against behavior it considers undesirable or immoral. Gechter admitted that he knowingly breached the student code of conduct. But the college’s action shows a cold lack of mercy, and the punishment seems disproportionately harsh.

Private colleges enjoy the ability to govern students using stricter regulations than allowed at public universities. Grove City, though, drafted some questionable prohibitions into The Crimson, its student handbook containing the standards of conduct requirements. Among other invasive and overreaching policies, it advises against men loitering near the one area in which women can sunbathe. It prohibits skateboards, considers students sharing an off-campus bedroom with the opposite sex an “especially serious” offense and requires an open door when members of the opposite sex visit students’ on-campus apartments.

The Princeton Review ranked Grove City College the second-most socially conservative college in the United States, between Brigham Young University and the University of Dallas. If Gechter didn’t know this specific information, he at least knew that Grove City prohibits “sexual misconduct including premarital sex (heterosexual or homosexual) or any other such conduct that violates historic Christian standards.”

Yet, this sits on a list with other violations such as food fights and using firecrackers, for which the punishment described is disciplinary probation, a minimum $50 fine and a suspension of one week or longer. A separate list threatens longer suspension or dismissal for more serious infractions, like stealing and possessing firearms. Gechter’s suspension lasts more than one year pending an appeals process, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Grove City denied his initial appeal.

Considering Gechter traveled out of state to film the adult movies, used a pseudonym and never revealed his involvement to anyone at the school, the punishment seems callous. How far is a college justified in going to regulate a student’s legal behavior beyond university grounds? Furthermore, what happened to the students who viewed and spread the pornography to other students, thus alerting the administrators to the situation? Were they punished at all? The code of conduct equally forbids those deeds.

Unfortunately, these and other questions go unanswered, as the college refuses to comment on the complex issue beyond two paltry official statements, of which the initial explanation is only 61 words.

Some who agree with Grove City’s decision might say, “Just don’t go there,” but stagnating incomes and skyrocketing tuition restrict students’ collegiate options more and more every year.

Gechter said he decided to attend Grove City because of the financial aid offers and only filmed pornography to pay tuition costs. After getting “burned out” constantly working lower-wage jobs while attending school, he found more lucrative weekend occupations, like modeling and, eventually, pornography. He said he needed the income to pay the school, according to The Sharon Herald.

If Grove City finds Gechter’s explanation inexcusable, it should refund his money. If the college bars him to profit from a legal profession it considers immoral, Grove City appears hypocritical in keeping that money it considers so irredeemably tainted. But, if Grove City truly cares about its students, it should just let Gechter complete his two remaining classes so he can find work as a molecular biologist instead.