As part of reconciliation efforts with one of its former professors,
Wheaton College will create an endowed scholarship for summer interns
working on peace and conflict projects.
Leaders at the evangelical Christian college in Wheaton, Ill.,
announced the scholarship during a news conference on Feb. 10 held
jointly with former political science professor Larycia Hawkins, for
whom the grant will be named. During her time at the school, Hawkins had
developed a certificate program in peace and conflict studies.
Today’s public event followed the announcement on Feb. 6 that the
college and Hawkins had reached a confidential settlement to end efforts
to revoke her tenure and remove her from the faculty. Hawkins has not
said what she plans to do next or whether she will continue her academic
career at another university.
Neither Hawkins nor Wheaton administrators took questions after reading from prepared remarks.
“We want to learn everything that we can from this situation,”
university president Phillip Ryken said, noting the college and Hawkins
are moving forward in “genuine” friendship. “We hope to become a better,
stronger community with a shared understanding of academic freedom in
the context of Christian convictions.”
On Feb. 6, Ryken said he had asked the school’s board of trustees to
conduct a review of the process for addressing faculty and personnel
issues in the future, especially when it comes to possible violations of
the school’s statement of faith. Hawkins started a furor over theology
and academic freedom in December after declaring on social media that
Christians and Muslims serve the same God. School administrators quickly
placed her on paid leave and initiated the process required to fire
her. She insisted she had not violated the school’s statement of faith
and planned to fight to keep her job.
During the news conference, Hawkins said she would cling to happy
memories of her nine years at Wheaton. She also repeated the calls for
unity among all people that she voiced on Facebook in December.
“Today is Lent, the beginning of a season of fasting, a season to
reflect where we are on our spiritual journeys, who we are and what we
are becoming,” she said. “So, I ask you: Who are you? Do you find
yourself in your neighbor? Because yes, we are all created in the image
of the divine. But we find ourselves in our neighbors, we find ourselves
in other people.”
While Hawkins and Ryken spoke of reconciliation, a group of about two
dozen Wheaton students, alumni, and religious leaders called for
repentance. The group gathered on the school’s campus to call for
Wheaton and other Christian universities to “confess and repent of the
sins of racism, sexism, and Islamophobia, and recognize that all humans
have dignity and are created equal in the eyes of God.” The group
planned to pray and fast for 40 days.
Hawkins’ December statements about Christians and Muslims came as part
of a campaign to show solidarity with Muslims in America facing
suspicion and hostility after November’s high-profile terror attack in
Paris, which prompted political leaders to call for tighter restrictions
on Muslim refugees entering the country. During Advent, Hawkins wore a
hijab, the traditional head covering for Muslim women.
Ryken said Wheaton believes in religious freedom and opposes any repression, including of Muslims.
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