Former vice president Mike Pence paid a visit to Mercer County on Thursday at Grove City College.

Pence gave the keynote address at the Institute for Faith and Freedom's "Confronting Antisemitism" event.

During this event, Pence announced a faith center being established at Grove City College known as the Center for Faith and Public Life with him acting as a visiting fellow.

In a press release, Grove City College President Paul McNulty is quoted as saying Pence is the perfect choice for the Center's first fellowship.

"No one has pursued this calling more sincerely than the former vice president. He is an extraordinary role model for what it looks like to lead with wisdom and winsomeness in public life, and he will be a leading source of thought leadership and an impactful voice of the Center,” McNulty said.

According to the release, Center's work will focus on four categories of study:

- Winsome Witness: Christian conduct in public life, including communication, family life and concern for the common good.

- God and Government: The relationship between religious beliefs and public policy and service.

- Religious Freedom: The basic legal protections of conscience, religious speech and practice and the free exercise of religion.

- Faith and the Common Good: The role of faith in every public sector for promoting prosperity, family values, human dignity, justice and other attributes of a healthy society.

During his remarks at the college, Pence discussed the war between Israel and Palestine stating that the U.S. should continue to stand with Israel and that there is "no moral equivalency" between Israel and Hamas and compared Hamas to ISIS.

"When I see young people at rallies waving Palestinian flags, I just think ... not now. Not when you're defending a terrorist organization," Pence said.

Pence added that no one questioned the use of force during the U.S.'s "War On Terror" following the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

On the topic of faith and Judeo-Christian values, Pence is quoted in the release stating that faith and engaging in public life are not mutually exclusive.

"History shows that Christians steadily working toward the common good have changed the world, and Grove City College opening a center shows they are committed to continuing this work,” Pence said.

Pence served as Vice President from 2016 until 2021 during former president Donald Trump's time in the White House.