Wheaton College to unveil Hastert Center in December

The next time Dennis Hastert visits his Wheaton College alma mater, his name will be on the door.

The former Speaker of the House in January donated his congressional papers to the school in preparation for his retirement. Now the college will unveil a new academic program and center to house the documents and create an education legacy for Hastert.

The J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government and Public Policy is scheduled to open in December, college officials announced today.

A $5 million renovation of the Memorial Student Center will house the program. It will operate under an additional $5 million in endowments.

Hastert himself is not expected to be a mainstay on the campus in Wheaton. He will not teach classes. However, building plans show a conference room in the new center that will double as an office for Hastert.

"He will play an active role within the center, but it is too premature at this point to specifically define as he is still a member of Congress with obligations and commitments to the 14th District," Hastert spokeswoman Lisa Wagner said in a written statement released by the college.

Hastert already has played an active role in raising funds to establish the center. Once open, the Hastert Center will focus its teachings and research on market economies, representative democracies, limited government and human action rooted in Christianity.

The college's Special Collections department spent the past eight months processing Hastert's congressional papers for public viewing. The Hastert Center will open before the papers are ready for viewing. The college will make the documents available in installments beginning at the end of January.

Plans for a ribbon-cutting are not yet finalized. College officials say they are not sure if Hastert will attend the ceremony. Hastert will retire from Congress in November.