To the members of the Wheaton College Board of Trustees:

“What kind of a person are you becoming?”

Arthur Holmes, the renowned Wheaton professor, once opened a chapel address with that question. In it, he encapsulated the purpose of a place like Wheaton—why parents would entrust their children, in mind, body, and spirit, to a Christian liberal arts college rather than a secular university. “Jesus called us to be his disciples,” Holmes concluded. Every aspect of a student’s life is to be discipleship—including the life of the mind. Wheaton exists for no less a purpose than to shape students into the image of Christ.

For most of its 165-year history, Wheaton has excelled at that task. Graduates have followed God’s calling into every domain of life, from the mission field to the football field, from the classroom to the boardroom, to be salt and light in a world desperately in need of Christ. Yet in recent years, Wheaton has lost its focus. It has gone adrift—not in its formal beliefs, which are boldly written in the Statement of Faith, but in practice—in the direct experience of students who come to campus and find it lacking the countercultural witness embodied in that document. The problem is not that students engage with non-Christian sources or ideas. We believe strongly, with Arthur Holmes, that all truth is indeed God’s truth and that a world-class Christian education should embrace truth wherever it is found. Rather, our complaint is that Wheaton has repeatedly capitulated to the spirit of our age—placating bad actors while sidelining those who bear a more faithful witness.

We see this in the relentless centering of race and the elevation of voices who promote unbiblical pedagogies, like critical theory; the unjust and unbiblical adjudication of alleged violations of the Community Covenant; the de facto capitulation on sexual ethics through the uncritical appropriation of LGBT terminology and identities; and the general tendency to stifle those who bring conservative viewpoints. We also hear about this drift from graduates who attest that some of their professors openly violated the Statement of Faith behind closed doors—for instance, affirming universal salvation or referring to God as both “Father and Mother.”

The problem is also manifest in what we don’t see—a lack of doctrinal or ethical conviction among many graduates, a notable drop-off in missionary sending, and fewer parents and students who are choosing Wheaton. The drop-off in applications has had a corrosive effect on the college’s reputation and standards. In 2012, Wheaton accepted 66% of applicants, 58% of whom were in the top 10% of their high school class; by 2021, Wheaton accepted 85% of applicants, 49% of whom were in the top 10%. In 2024, the acceptance rate reached 88%. This trend cannot be accounted for by the demographic cliff alone. Wheaton is not giving parents and prospective students a compelling reason to select Wheaton over its alternatives.

This mission drift didn’t happen overnight. It has been subtle, creeping, but real. As believers, we know this is how evil normally works. In America, we have 400 years of history that show this very form of drift leading countless Christian colleges away from their mission.

As alumni and parents, we have sensed Wheaton's drift for some time. We've exchanged anecdotes with each other from our time on campus and from our children currently enrolled. Many of us have brought our concerns privately to President Ryken and to you, the trustees, hoping to have our concerns resolved privately. But there is no evidence that you have seriously heeded our concerns or been vigilant to reverse Wheaton’s drift. As such, we are now compelled to publicly air these concerns and take additional steps in the hope of seeing necessary change. We are not doing this out of anger, frustration, or spite, but out of deep love for Wheaton College and the profound good it has done in countless lives, and can still do.

We recognize these are challenging times for institutions of higher education, particularly those committed to Christian distinctives in a changing world. Filling a faculty with faithful Christian scholars given the state of modern academia poses a tremendous challenge. Yet we are also mindful that from an earthly perspective, the odds have always been against Wheaton. In fact, they have always been against God’s people. Yet amazingly, He does the impossible. That a small school begun by a small band of abolitionists would play a role in the world-changing ministries of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot, Carl F.H. Henry, Billy Graham, John Piper, Josh McDowell, A.W. Tozer, Phillip Yancey, and William Lane Craig testifies to His power. And the sum of these individuals’ ministries pales in comparison to the quiet lives of thousands of faithful alumni whose names may be lost to history, but not to eternity. We can take courage knowing that God uses the unlikeliest people to bring Him glory—because His ways are not our ways.

We are only strengthened in this conviction by what we see at other colleges today. God has poured out tremendous blessings on many schools that have chosen a path of bold, broad-shouldered Christianity in this moment, regardless of where it places them on a political spectrum. In our time, the Gospel may be viewed as “conservative"; in other times, it has been “progressive.” So be it. Our world’s categories should be irrelevant to how we carry out our mission. Christian students and parents want a college that will shape them into the kinds of countercultural people who will walk boldly into the wind in the strength of Christ, wherever He leads them.

We, the undersigned, compelled by our love for Wheaton College, humbly ask that you take immediate action regarding (1) the state of the college, including the need for new leadership, (2) putting an end to the current DEI regime, (3) conducting an audit of every single faculty and staff member’s commitment to the Statement of Faith and Community Covenant, (4) evaluating the process for adjudicating claims of racism, sexism, and other forms of harassment, (5) affirming free speech and the importance of a vibrant competition of ideas on campus, and whatever else is necessary to ensure the drift toward worldliness is ended and replaced with a vigorous, fearless, joyful pursuit of the Lord. 

Until such a time as significant changes have been made on these priorities, we are committed to one or more of the following actions: 

• Ceasing all financial support to the college.
• Declining to recommend Wheaton to prospective students and their parents.
• Sharing examples of institutional drift with friends, fellow parishioners, online audiences, or the press to ensure students and parents who are considering Wheaton are aware of the disconnect between what is advertised in the Statement of Faith and what is really happening on campus.

Many of us would like to meet with you to discuss our concerns in greater detail in person. A signatory will be in contact with you to schedule time to speak.

Sincerely, 

Concerned Alumni of Wheaton College