I haven’t been on the boards much lately, so I missed the thread, but I have some inside knowledge of this case that might enlighten. My niece attends Wheaton, and last month I drove up to bring her home for Christmas break. While there for the two days that this story broke, I was staying with a college friend of mine, who happens to be my wife’s cousin and a Wheaton professor. I also had lunch with a friend of mine (and college friend of my wife) who is a staff director at the school. This case was a topic of discussion with both of them.
They reiterated a couple of points:
the media reports, not having all the facts, made guesses or assumptions about the situation that are inaccurate.
she was not suspended for claiming that Christians and Muslims worship the same god. That belief falls within mainstream Christian thought, although it is not universally accepted.
she was not suspended for wearing a hajib. Her wearing the hajib had absolutely nothing to do with the investigation whatsoever. Although some people at Wheaton were not thrilled with it, it was not against any rules and Wheaton respects freedom of expression within its Statement of Faith as agreed to by all faculty and staff.
What was explained to me is that:
She made statements on Facebook (not about Muslims and Christians worshiping the same God) that raised questions about her adherence to the university Statement of Faith.
Because here remarks were ambiguous, she was asked to come in for an interview to explain what she meant and to re-affirm her support for the Statement of Faith.
Apparently, the interview did not clarify the situation. She was provided a list of questions in writing asking her clarify her beliefs. At this time, according to the documented university investigation process, she was temporarily suspended with pay until such time as she provided satisfactory answers to the questions.
That’s where it stood when I was on campus. According to my sources, she obtained both a lawyer and a media advisor, so the situation was beginning to turn adversarial, to everybody’s chagrin.
It sounds like she has not convinced the trustees or the president (I’m not sure who makes the decision) of her orthodoxy.
I’m not defending the university here, but I am saying that attributing it to her statement that Christians and Muslims worship the same God is a red herring, invented by the media. That’s not what got her into trouble according to the people I know at Wheaton.
Then the people you know at Wheaton are wrong; it was not invented by the media.
“Yet her recently expressed views, including that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, appear to be in conflict with the College’s Statement of Faith.”
My friends also said that the media department at the university and the trustees were not all on the same page, so that could explain the discrepancy. Apparently the initial statement announcing the suspension was drafted at the request of the media department before a final decision had been made; yet the media department went ahead and released it early. That’s how the professor learned of it. It was a screwed up situation from the beginning.
No, I think your friends are just wrong. That’s not a photo of a newspaper; it’s a web page, which can be edited at any time, and in fact has been updated several times. If the trustees wanted that part of the statement corrected, they would have it corrected. If by some strange chance they thought it was important to leave the original erroneous statement intact, they would add a correction.
where they not only reiterate the importance of the Muslim/Christian God issue, but they explicitly state that “College leadership has made the decision at this time to remove the updated FAQs posted here January 14.” So no, they don’t leave stuff there if they don’t want it there.
“Wheaton College and Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Larycia Hawkins announce they have come together and found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation. The College and Dr. Hawkins have reached a confidential agreement under which they will part ways.”
I think you have a point, but I would apply the exact same standard to Jews and Muslims. In partial agreement with the Marcionites, I don’t theink either the Jewish or Islamic deity is identical to the Trinitarian, Christian one. I don’t know if Wheaton agrees or not- probably not- but it wouldn’t be the first disagreement I have with evangelical theology.
So basically, you can have academic freedom as long as you have (or at least express) ideas that fall within the confines of Wheaton College’s approved list.