On Sunday night, Guilford College students and alumni from as far back as 1978 gathered for a dinner in King hall to mourn and celebrate the departure of Joe Groves, religious and peace and conflict studies professor at Guilford College.

“If you think you know where your life will lead, wake up, you don’t,” Joe said in his closing speech on Sunday. “I came here [Guilford College] following my wife,” he said smiling. “I leave because Ellen has now taken another job [in Washington D.C.]. I never expected to stay here for 22 years. I never expected to stay anywhere for 22 years. I think in part I have stayed so long for two reasons.
“The people in this department is the first: Mel Kaiser, John Stoneburner, David Barnhill. There is a sense of community here that is real. We have created an environment where we share respect, care, and love for each other, which is all too rare in the academic world. I think that you, students and alumni in the audience, are all a product of that.

“The second reason is Guilford itself. Because of my political involvement, I don’t think that there are a lot of schools around that would have given me tenure. Guilford, in part, has supported that political and social justice work that I have tried to do. I stayed because I felt that support.”

In a private interview Joe commented that other reasons for his departure are the outsourcing of the bookstore (which he opposed) and the “financial mismanagement of the college.” He said, “That seemed to us to be a change from the Quaker ethos we came here to be a part of. The decision to leave was a combination of positive reasons to move and the feeling that the school didn’t have the same attraction …. Students make the mistake that community is a given at Guilford or any other institution. A real sense of community and strong social values that don’t just mock the dominant culture, you have to struggle to create.”
Joe also stated that there have been positive changes since last year when he decided to leave, including the new CFO and a commitment from the school and senior administration that social justice is a central part of Guilford’s purpose, backing that with the decision to make Vernie Davis head of the peace and conflict studies department.

“This [move to DC] gives me a chance to cause a lot more trouble,” he said, back at the dinner, smiling. “It will give me a chance to have a deeper and more active level in political struggles and social justice that have been so important to me.”

After the dinner guests shared their experiences of Joe. As Joe sat in the center of the room in a high back chair, which looked on this evening to be a throne, students of the past three decades stood, one after the other, to express their great appreciation and gratitude for him in their lives.
“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” said Dennis Granzen ’82, quoting Yeats. “Joe gave me this and the desire to communicate it to others throughout my life.”
“He made me cry,” said Eliza Blake, ’90, smiling. “The intensity and passion of the issues we discussed. He doesn’t give you a break. He showed me how deeply and completely my outlook on politics and race was seated. He shaped my political views. I might have arrived there on my own, but I might not have.”
“He taught me to dig deeper,” said an unidentified alumn. “He is a man of true conviction.”

Ryan O’Dell ‘99 said, “I first saw him at Faith Community Church during the Kmart boycott to help workers. Our first meeting was in the context of a community struggle, not a classroom. This gave me permission to not be neutral. It transferred me from the realm of ideas to action.”

“In my years here at Guilford I have often wondered whether to stay in or drop out. Joe’s professional quality and my respect for Joe and his work kept me in with the thought that maybe someday I can do something like he has,” said Rebecca Eisqreis. “Secretly I want to be you, Joe Groves. Thank you for directing my life.”
“Thanks from the bottom of my heart,” said Steve Arrington, ‘95. “You will truly be missed.”

The religious studies department presented Joe with a piece of pottery beautifully sculpted and designed from North Carolina earth and clay. The gift came with a silent hope that wherever his life (or wife) may lead him in the future, he might look upon it and remember his 22 years here in the sculpture and design of Guilford and its students as well as the ideals, idea, and realization of community to which he contributed.

“When I leave Guilford I believe I have left a piece of myself here. Guilford is going with me in the presence of all of you. Guilford is alive in you.”