Dr. H. Collin Messer, professor of English and assistant dean of the Calderwood School of Arts and Letters, will speak at Grove City College’s 2022 Baccalaureate Service at 7 p.m. Friday, May 13.
Messer is a respected and beloved member of the College’s faculty, known for inspiring students and advancing Christian scholarship in his academic and institutional roles. The message he’ll deliver to seniors will serve as a coda to Messer’s years of service to the College, which he is leaving at the end of the semester to take an administrative post at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga.
“For the last 16 years, Dr. Messer has challenged and enlightened students as he led them to a deeper understanding of the power and meaning of great literature through a commitment to the life of the mind and Christian scholarship. He has been an insightful and determined leader in strengthening our commitment to faith and learning. Collin has had a profound impact on many over those years and we know that our seniors will relish a chance to hear from him again before they graduate,” College President Paul J. McNulty ’80 said.
Messer teaches American literature and is well known as an authority on Southern novelist Walker Percy’s work. A former chair and assistant chair of the Department of English, Messer was honored in 2015 with the ODK Professor of the Year award. He has been instrumental in planning faculty workshops and the annual retreat and in co-leading the College’s Trustee Scholar Program.
“Collin Messer embodies the virtues of a true Christian scholar that we hope our students emulate. He is a thoughtful, kind, and winsome colleague and professor. His contributions to Grove City College have been immeasurable. He will be sorely missed,” said Dr. Paul C. Kemeny, dean of the Calderwood School.
An English literature major, Messer graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. and earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in English literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Messer’s Ph.D. specialized in 20th-Century American Literature and the Literature of the American South.