Grove City College’s institutional think tank has a new name that more clearly articulates what it stands for – and more clearly aligns it with the historic values of the College.
What was The Center for Vision & Values is now The Institute for Faith & Freedom (IFF) at Grove City College.
The rechristening was announced Thursday, April 4 at the think tank’s annual conference, but it has been in the planning stages for months as the Institute’s staff worked to develop a new website and revamped media presence. The rebranding and marketing push is intended to break through the social media clamor and digital overload so that its message can be heard, clearly, at such a critical time.
“Given the extent to which our culture and society is challenging broadly-held understandings of faith and freedom with particular regard to the formation of virtue, we decided that our message was of the utmost importance, now more than ever,” the Institute’s Executive Director Jeffrey Trimbath said. “We are convinced that there are hundreds of thousands of parents, families and fellow compatriots who would more readily resonate with our work if we had a name that more clearly says what we believe.”
“I’m really excited about this name change,” Paul Kengor, senior director and chief academic fellow with the Institute, said. “We’ve actually wanted to make this change for a long time. Even as our name spoke of ‘vision and values,’ our mission has always been about ‘faith and freedom.’ The Institute for Faith & Freedom more clearly conveys who we are and what we’ve long sought to support.”
While the name has changed, the mission has not. The Institute will continue to promote the principles of faith and freedom to the next generation of American leaders, and to share those principles with the wider world.
The Center for Vision & Values was established in 2005 and developed three main avenues to advance the faith and freedom foundations of American citizenship: publishing scholarly commentary; student fellowships; and conferences, lectures and events. In the last decade and a half, its message has reached millions of people and inspired hundreds of students, many of whom are now leaders in the freedom movement.
Going forward, the Institute for Faith & Freedom plans to increase the number of scholars and student fellows under its umbrella, more successfully market its work, and take its unique perspective into a key arena: Washington D.C. The Institute will begin hosting a series of events, lectures, and other outreach to train interns, network with alumni and take the light of faith and freedom to the nation’s capital.
Visit the Institute online at www.faithandfreedom.com and look for IFF on social media.