Culture and Traditions
Students must attend a designated number of weekly college-sponsored chapels to qualify for graduation. Alcohol is banned from the campus, and tobacco use is restricted to a purpose-built gazebo near Pearce Hall. Greek letter fraternities and sororities are not permitted.
One of the earliest college basketball games in the United States occurred at Geneva College on April 8, 1893 when the Geneva College Covenanters defeated the New Brighton YMCA. Geneva commemorates this event through the athletic slogan of "The Birthplace of College Basketball". Geneva also has one of the oldest basketball courts in collegiate sports in the Johnson Gymnasium.
Geneva was founded by Scottish and Scots-Irish immigrants. Many names of campus buildings and areas bear Scottish names:
- The main meeting area of the Student Center is called Skye Lounge after the Isle of Skye.
- The restaurant-style eating area is called The Brig, short for Brigadoon, commemorating a play about a mythical Highland village.
Geneva sports teams were nicknamed the Covenanters until the 1950s. Members of the RPCNA are sometimes referred to as Covenanters because the denomination traces its roots to the Covenanting tradition of Reformation era Scotland. The modern sports nickname of Golden Tornadoes commemorates the "Golden Tornado" of May 11, 1914 when a major tornado struck the college, most notably taking the gold colored roof from the top of Old Main, which was the origin of the associated color. Although the storm caused significant damage to the campus, there were no serious injuries. College students and faculty rejoiced at what they believed was a sign of God's mercy.
Geneva's traditional sports rivalry is with Westminster College in nearby New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.
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“I think a Person who is thus terrifyed [sic] with the Imagination of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to the Reports of all Historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the Traditions of all Nations, thinks the Appearance of Spirits fabulous and groundless.”
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