Wheaton College alumni flood petition to change leadership

A gaggle of greater than 1,000 involved college students, alumni and their relations have signed a letter demanding a change in management at Wheaton School in Wheaton, Illinois, amid what they describe because the flagship Evangelical establishment’s mission drift.

The letter comes after Wheaton made headlines earlier this month for deleting a Fb put up that congratulated and urged prayer for 1998 alumnus Russell Vought, who was just lately confirmed to function the director of the U.S. Workplace of Administration and Price range within the Trump administration.

After some alumni complained on social media, the varsity pulled the put up, claiming “the political situation surrounding [Vought’s] appointment led to a significant concern expressed online.” The college added that “it was not our intention to embroil the College in a political discussion or dispute.”

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Eric Teetsel, a member of Wheaton’s class of 2006, advised The Christian Submit that he was among the many group of Wheaton alumni concerned in drafting the letter, and that their concern about their college has been simmering for years.

“Some of us have been working together, talking about what we’ve been seeing at Wheaton for several years now, and the latest incident involving Russ Vought inspired a renewed sense that it’s time to do something,” mentioned Teetsel, who serves as CEO at The Middle for Renewing America, a nonprofit Vought based in 2021.

The letter, which is addressed to the varsity’s board of trustees, asserts that alumni and fogeys “have sensed Wheaton’s drift for some time,” however that their issues concerning the college’s path have largely fallen on deaf ears.

“We’ve exchanged anecdotes with each other from our time on campus and from our children currently enrolled,” the letter reads. “Many of us have brought our concerns privately to President [Phillip] Ryken and to you, the trustees, hoping to have our concerns resolved privately. But there is no evidence that you have seriously heeded our concerns or been vigilant to reverse Wheaton’s drift.”

Such a reality has compelled them “to publicly air these concerns and take additional steps in the hope of seeing necessary change.”

The letter threatens to stop monetary help, decline recommending Wheaton to potential college students and to publicize examples of its institutional drift.

“We are not doing this out of anger, frustration, or spite, but out of deep love for Wheaton College and the profound good it has done in countless lives, and can still do,” the letter provides, noting that the mission drift “has been subtle, creeping, but real.”

In accordance with detractors, vital race principle, gender ideology and different left-wing philosophies have seeped into the establishment that boasts the late Rev. Billy Graham, John Piper, William Lane Craig, in addition to martyrs Jim Elliot and Todd Beamer as alumni.

Teetsel recalled cases throughout his tenure at Wheaton twenty years in the past that stood out to him as inappropriate for a self-proclaimed Christian faculty.

He remembered a communications professor who closed the door of the classroom and made his class watch a video in help of same-sex adoption. One other professor would put on a purple bracelet to point to her college students when she was menstruating, he mentioned.

“There may not be one single instance or moment that all this can be attributed to,” Teetsel mentioned of when Wheaton’s drift started. “I think it’s just been a subtle, creeping, pernicious drift in the same direction.” He sees Wheaton’s points as “undoubtedly” a mirrored image of apostatizing developments occurring in lots of Christian establishments.

Teetsel mentioned he’s “not at all surprised by the response” to the petition, which has amassed 850 alumni signatures as of Tuesday night.

“I think the vast majority of Wheaton College alums who are hearing about what’s happening on campus — seeing it in the alumni magazine, seeing news stories when they break out into the open about things that are happening — are completely dismayed and disappointed by it,” he mentioned.

Mike Swider, who served as Wheaton’s head soccer coach from 1996 to 2019, was among the many signatories.

Different signatories of the letter who spoke to CP additionally expressed their dismay and concern concerning what they imagine has occurred to their alma mater in latest many years.

“It’s astounding how quickly Wheaton has abandoned its Christian heritage to become just another woke college,” one alumnus from the Class of 2018 mentioned. “The Vought debacle is just the latest example of the utter failure of President Ryken’s strategy of leftist appeasement.”

A dad or mum of a former scholar additionally laid blame on the ft of the varsity’s management.

“I am deeply concerned about Wheaton College’s decades-long drift and weak leadership,” the dad or mum mentioned. “The administration’s recent decision to bow to public pressure in the wake of Russ Vought’s presidential appointment reflects a troubling pattern of compromise over conviction. Once known for its strong commitment to conservative values, Wheaton’s reputation is at risk.”

Portia Cauthen White, a North Carolina resident who’s a member of the Class of 1983, would not blame Ryken for the establishment’s issues, noting that her father was additionally the president of a Christian faculty and that she, subsequently, understands “the political pressure cooker that Philip Ryken lives in.”

Earlier than turning into Wheaton’s president in 2010, Ryken assumed the pulpit of the distinguished Rev. James Montgomery Boice at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

“I don’t hold him responsible for the stances that Wheaton has taken that are antithetical to biblical loyalty,” White mentioned. “I like to imagine that Ryken is stemming the tide of Wheaton’s pandering to the most Orwellian dictates of respectable academia. ‘The Harvard of Christian schools’ could be more like Harvard if the Lord in His mercy does not step in and change its course.”

When reached for remark concerning the letter, a spokesperson for Wheaton referred CP to their Feb. 8 assertion concerning the Vought incident, and mentioned they don’t have anything extra so as to add.