Wheaton College’s troubling ‘awokening’

When you visit Wheaton College, you can’t miss the six huge Corinthian columns that support a massive red brick building. A “Billy Graham Hall” sign on the outside anchors an icon of conservative Christian faith like a big box store anchors a mall. But the school’s increasingly “progressive” culture makes the Hall seem out of place, as Wheaton College no longer has an official affiliation with Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

In his reply email to questions, BGEA’s director, Franklin Graham, said, “I share the concern about wokeness on college campuses. I don’t embrace or endorse this ungodly ideology anywhere and have publicly urged Christian universities — including Wheaton College — to be on guard against this … mission drift [and] have personally expressed my concerns to Wheaton’s President.”

The Billy Graham imprint of sorts appeals to conservative evangelical families and acts as a smokescreen so prospective students’ tuition-paying parents don’t see the muddied landscape of the college’s eroding Christian worldview.

Step into a class or chapel service (students wishing to be anonymous have relayed) and you’ll hear unscriptural positions that include white guilt, the legitimacy of gender transitioning, that God might be a she, the abandonment of Zionism and doubting the authenticity of Scripture, especially in Genesis studies. One professor introduced herself saying, “I am white … female, cisgender, straight, temporarily able-bodied, a mom and a wife, caretaking Wisconsin land in the traditional homeland of the Ho-Chunk nation.”

Franklin Graham cares about Wheaton students. “I want them to have a fire in their gut for evangelism.” Graham wants the best outcome. After all, BGEA hosts student interns in its Charlotte, North Carolina, facilities, he says; and adds that “Wheaton College has a significant history and I pray that its future will march forward, Christ-centered, proclaiming the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”

Ron Friedman

Gurnee