Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins, who faced termination from
her tenured post at the evangelical school for publicly saying
Christians and Muslims worship the “same God,” has announced in a joint
statement with the college that she will leave.
The statement on Wheaton’s website referred to a “confidential agreement under which they will part ways.”
Wheaton President Philip Graham Ryken is quoted offering the history
professor appreciation for her nine years at the college outside
Chicago. “We are grateful for her passionate teaching, scholarship,
community service and mentorship of our students.”
Hawkins is quoted praising the college, often called the “evangelical
Harvard,” saying that it represents Christian liberal arts in “its
mission, programs, and in the caliber of its employees and students.”
Ryken emailed students, faculty and staff Saturday (Feb. 6) to announce
that the “complex and painful” controversy has now “come to a place of
resolution and reconciliation. With a mutual desire for God’s blessing,
we have decided to part ways.”
Ryken called this “a time for prayer, lament, repentance, forgiveness,
and reconciliation,” and announced a reconciliation service in the
college chapel for Tuesday, at which he and Hawkins will both speak.
Ryken also announced there will be a review by the Board of Trustees on
the issues raised over the last two months, including “academic
freedom, due process, the leaking of confidential information, possible
violations of faculty governance, and gender and racial discrimination.”
Hawkins was suspended in December when the administration deemed her
personal Facebook post in December — in which she spoke about solidarity
with Muslims during the Christian Advent season — was a violation of
the school’s requisite statement of faith.
This provoked an uproar, with students demonstrating in support of
Hawkins and the Rev. Franklin Graham publicly supporting Wheaton. “I can
tell you — Islam and Christianity clearly do not worship the same God,”
Graham said, in support of moves to fire Hawkins.
In January, she was told the school was moving to terminate her.
However, the termination process, which began with an investigation by a
faculty council and would eventually reach Provost Stanton Jones’ desk,
was short-circuited when faculty leaders unanimously asked Wheaton
College to drop its attempt to fire Hawkins, according to Christianity
Today.
In a letter dated Feb. 2 and published Saturday by the magazine, Jones told the faculty:
“I communicated to Dr. Hawkins that I recognize her as a sister in
Christ, and that it was never my intent to call the sincerity of her
faith into question. I asked Dr. Hawkins for her forgiveness for the
ways I contributed to the fracture of our relationship, and to the
fracture of Dr. Hawkins’ relationship with the College. While I acted to
exercise my position of oversight of the faculty within the bounds of
Wheaton College employment policies and procedures, I apologized for my
lack of wisdom and collegiality as I initially approached Dr. Hawkins,
and for imposing an administrative leave more precipitously than was
necessary.”
Hawkins has said she has no regrets over her comments on Dec. 10. She
wrote,“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like
me, a Christian, are people of the book. And, as Pope Francis stated
last week, we worship the same God.”
Christianity Today reported that she wore a hijab in a show of
“embodied solidarity” with Muslims in America after Donald Trump and
Franklin Graham called for bans on Muslims immigrating to the United
States.
On Monday (Feb. 1), Hawkins donned the headscarf again for World Hijab
Day, tweeting, “I’m veiled today and I’m in good company with Muslim
& non-Muslim sisters,” according to Christianity Today.
The news site cited a LifeWay Research survey which found that 60
percent of evangelical Protestants believe that Muslims and Christians
do not worship the same God, while about 35 percent believe they do.
Saturday’s joint statement said, “Both parties share a commitment to
care for the oppressed and the marginalized, including those who are
marginalized because of their religious beliefs, and to respectful
dialogue with people of other faiths or no faith.”
It also announced that none of the parties would be available for
questions and that there will be a joint press conference — where no
questions will be allowed — “in pursuit of further public
reconciliation” on Wednesday (Feb. 10) at a Chicago church.
Cathy Lynn Grossman is a senior national correspondent for RNS
Courtesy: Religion News Service
Photo: Larycia Hawkins speaks on Jan. 6, 2016, at First United Methodist Church in Chicago.
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