Our Voices

We are one of 4 generations of alums (1946-2026). We can no longer recommend Wheaton College.    

We have seen these things personally in our experiences at Wheaton and heard of them through discussions with recent and current students. My concern (which I’ve explained to people at Wheaton) is that students are being taught variants of the gospel (under the guise that this is what liberal arts education does) and being left with the impression that this alternative teaching is the gospel. 

Wheaton will be in my prayers. 

     My grandchildren would have been 4th   generation, but after visiting Wheaton chose alternative colleges.    

     We thank the authors of this letter for   initiating this effort which reflects concerns we have long had. We did not send our kids to Wheaton, but we would love to see it turn back to Christ and  his Word with greater biblical fidelity for future generations. Harry and I met at Wheaton, have been married over 47 years, and we wrote this response together.

     My niece graduated in 2021. The things she told me were heartbreaking.

I know several recent grads and current   professors (extended family). I am very concerned about the indoctrination of race and DEI that these young people are espousing. Because of the trends I saw over the last 20 years, I never encouraged any of my three children to   consider Wheaton College as one of their choices.    

My daughter (class of 2021) had a   philosophy professor who taught critical race theory. She brought her concern to the Board of Trustees, and nothing was done. I’m proud of her for standing up for the truth. I am also proud of the Wheaton College of old. But now it  has drifted so far away from its original founding that Billy Graham wouldn’t   recognize it. So sad.    

I have always loved Wheaton and was always  proud to say I went there as well as sending a child there. Now I am hesitant to say so. I have written before but my fears have been dismissed. When at a reunion President Ryken looked at us and bemoaned that we were not a diverse audience but a few years more it will be fixed. How racist! This thing with our new director of OMB has put me over the edge. We should be proud that Wheaton produced such a man.    

In May, we'll have two Wheaton grads, and it has been disconcerting and disappointing to hear about experiences they have had recently at Wheaton, so different than our own, where unbiblical ideas have been propounded, and conservative viewpoints have been unwelcome.    

     My own kids and their spouses have   expressed concerns about what they have heard in classrooms at Wheaton    

 I am incredibly thankful for my time at Wheaton and the lifelong relationships that I made there. I am also greatly indebted to the faculty who mentored me and prepared me for life after Wheaton. However, my wife and I have grown increasingly concerned about the trajectory of the college ever since our time on campus. By trying to appeal to everyone, the college has lost focus on its historic mission. The faculty and students who come to Wheaton do not all share the same goal and it is becoming increasingly difficult for the college to advance the goals of everyone in the Wheaton community. Our prayer is that Wheaton would return to its Biblical roots. Our hope is that someday we would have good reason to trust Wheaton to educate our children.

Wheaton has been a massive blessing to my immediate family and extended family. Six siblings attended, two brothers-in-law, a sister-in-law, five nieces and nephews, four of whom married fellow Wheaties, and most recently, a son-in-law, not to mention countless friends. For that reason, our whole clan has grieved at Wheaton’s collapse. Wheaton had a powerful calling card, the preeminent Protestant Christian university in America. All Wheaton had to do was protect that status. So, very sad to see irrevocable damage that has occurred over the last 20 years, and this, in spite of many warnings. Wheaton is in my prayers but has long ago lost my voice of advocacy. Would love for Wheaton to take steps to   restore my voice.    

     I’m a graduate. I met my husband at   Wheaton. We have 2 children. We are proud supporters of Honey Rock. I’d love my children to attend Wheaton for their college experience but as things  stand today, I cannot imagine sending them to Wheaton for college. We will  have to send them elsewhere. Please address the internal issues that have lead to this significant public embarrassment and make Wheaton relevant to   the next generation of Christian students. I fear the damage done will take a very, very long time to correct.    

     I strongly agree with this letter and have   grieved deeply over the attitudes and actions of the College leadership in recent years.    

     I was deeply disturbed last year when   Wheaton College sent a student teacher to Wheaton North High School who was a   woman trying to be a man. She was introduced to my daughter’s class as a   “they”. My daughter holds a biblical worldview on sexuality so to know  Wheaton College was involved in condoning this behavior - “trans ideology” -   by sending a representative of it disturbed her. I pulled her from the class and spoke with Wheaton College’s education department.    

        This has been a long time coming. Thanks for writing this letter. There are so many examples I could cite - the Edman   Chapel plaque renaming, the Buswell library renaming, and more. And the decisions made by the college always swing in the same direction.

     I concur with this letter. While Wheaton   has a good statement of faith, its practical application, and the consistency with which it is applied is poor. The adequacy of the vetting & hiring   process for new faculty is also weak. I know of too many people who no longer would be interested in sending   their children to Wheaton College because of public or private stories they hear about or experience at Wheaton, and that is one of the multiple signs of   Wheaton’s drift in the wrong direction. Wheaton needs a renewal in direction to change from the drift they have   been experiencing, and also some reformation to be ready to go in that   renewed direction.        

     Watching the decline of the college’s   biblical boldness in a dark world has been disappointing and seems to be   unapologetic at this point. I have 5 kids, 4 of whom have graduated HS and attended other Christian colleges that have held firm in their education and defense of the Word and God’s Kingdom. I pray that things can be corrected and that the convictions that began the school can once again be adhered to.    

     More than a dozen members of my family   attended Wheaton. My great-uncle, Dr. Merrill Tenney was dean of the Graduate School for a quarter century and was targeted in the Trustees Report on their obsession with racism in Wheaton's history. I taught as a replacement   instructor and adjunct from 1999-2001. Wheaton College is now unrecognizable to me.    

     Not only am I an alumnus, but I am a former employee from the Marketing and Communications Dept. Wheaton was the only college I wanted to go to. The direction it has gone breaks my heart. I sent my daughter to Liberty. Did not even take her to visit Wheaton. I wanted her to attend a counter-culture university that stands firm in its faith.    

     I agree wholeheartedly with every concern   written in this letter. I am greatly saddened by the state of Wheaton college and haven’t encouraged any of my 5 children to attend. After educating them in a Christian K-12 school, I preferred to send them to secular universities  where they know they are in an adversarial environment rather than a so   called “Christian” college that isn’t willing to stand for what they claim to believe.     

     This has been my broken-hearted message for the past 20 years, as I have watched all my dear, beloved Wheaton friends walked away from faithfulness to the Word of God. The simplest Christian can   read the words of Jesus and know that we can judge a tree by its fruit. Wheaton's sophisticated fruit has rotted. May the hearts that are truly His return to Him with clarity and repentance.     

    I recently worked at Wheaton and I had a son graduate last year. He was a 6th generation student. For both, there were wonderful take-aways yet mixed with concerning/disturbing influences and experiences — Re: contents of this letter. 

     I stand in strong support of Wheaton   College returning to a foundation of conservative leadership rooted in biblical principles. The strength and faithfulness of Wheaton’s alumni over generations have been built on this firm commitment to Scripture and Christ-centered   values. It’s vital that Wheaton’s leadership upholds this legacy, protecting   the school’s mission from cultural drift. We need leaders who will champion biblical truth with courage, ensuring Wheaton remains a beacon of faith and   integrity for current students and future generations. The backbone of faithful alumni deserves nothing less.    

     Refer to article “Bring Back the Forum   Wall” published in the Wheaton record back in 2020 coauthored by myself and alumnus Mason Laney as example of how similar calls have fallen on deaf ears.     

          These days I consider myself more of a   center or perhaps even center-left sort of person politically, but I cannot deny that the direction Wheaton has gone has been disappointing to see unfold. I’m glad that the college is willing to not be as dogmatic or   “fundamentalist” as some other notable Christian institutions, but even in   the 6+ years I’ve been associated with Wheaton it does seem like they’ve lost the boldness they used to so proudly adhere to. And as the article infers, it no longer seems unique enough to hold up to the reputation it once had (especially with the growing tuition costs).     

     I'm the former chair and vice chair of the   graduate student council. I have personally voiced and literally handed   concerns to the president and trustees. I earned two MAs at Wheaton.     

     While I appreciate many things about my   time at Wheaton, there are many concerns that I have as well. I too was told that God is "Our Mother". I too was told that "quench not the  Spirit" meant to uplift black and brown voices. I too was told that we needed to apologize and repent for the ways in which we treated sexual minorities. None of these things were biblical, and it barely scratches the surface. I hope that the fed up state of the country helps to promote some change, but we will see.    

        This is exactly what our daughter   experienced, she started at Wheaton in 2013. Outright shaming of her “whiteness” and promoting “white guilt” from the chapel pulpit after Chappy K. retired and was replaced. It was and is very disappointing. Very different institution from when my Mother graduated from Wheaton in 1953         

     All 4 of our children graduated from   Wheaton College. All but one was under the leadership of President Litfin... after that Ryken took the reins and our last daughter remembers a definite shift. We have 19 grandchildren and my children and their spouses...all of who but one graduated from Wheaton College have not and will not choose Wheaton because they feel Wheaton has not stood firm to the Biblical values   they so enjoyed. We as a family are praying for strong leadership to return.

     We were very happy when our son was   recently accepted as an incoming freshman for Fall 2025. But we have recently   reconsidered the investment of sending him to Wheaton College due to many of the un-Christian ideologies and practices that are being promoted within the  school under the guise of inclusion. Our hopes are for our son to attend a  Biblical-worldview college where its education curriculum helps foster the   development of critical thinking and character based on Biblical Christian   morals, values, and principles, as well as prepare him for a vocation that   brings glory to God.
 

   We are very concerned about the college’s Sexual and Gender Identity Institute led by Mark Yarhouse, whose special interest in homosexuality  minors and minorities is disturbing. His published works and papers clearly   show a deep, very dark affirming interest in the LGBT+ movement. We are   called to bring people to truth in Jesus Christ as our Savior, that our identity is to be found in Him, not in our sexuality. Mark Yarhouse has also vocalized views that support gender transitions in children/minors and that   this decision should be between the doctor and the patient. This is horrifying. 

        As Professor Emeritus, during my 25 years at Wheaton College, I experienced first hand a mission drift from “For Christ and His Kingdom” to matters of race and gender.
You could pack out a room to discuss nuances of these issuers. However,   although there was always “lip service” to the gospel- there seemed a cooling   of enthusiasm for the brokenness of humanity, the need for a savior, and the hope of Christ’s Kingdom.     

      This petition sadly confirms what my son   has been sharing about his experience over the past three years. One of his professors shared how "wonderful it is" that some countries  perceive there to be 3 genders. My son has told me he has been criticized for   his conservative, Biblical beliefs.

      We did not allow our daughter to apply to Wheaton College, even though my husband and I are both alum, because President Ryken mandated the experimental mRNA COVID-19 gene therapy injection, and we believe in bodily autonomy. We are financially supporting Hillsdale College instead of Wheaton with our alumni giving.

  My son was there through Covid from 2017 to 2022 , played baseball, did a Masters, and frequently cited the above issues . He stated that chapel was used to promote unbiblical policies and ideas especially in regard to homosexuality and racially divisive issues. Even a black anti- abortion speaker provoked a student body leader to write a column in the student newspaper saying that the talk about preserving life made her feel “unsafe.”

My son said it got worse every year he was there and that on one occasion he was singled out in class as automatically being a racist simply because he was white and from Alabama . 

And these are just a few of the examples . 

Wheaton gave my son many great experiences and he met many great people. However , concern he expressed mirrors what is said above and our love for the school compels us to agree with all the above proposals.

  I have loved Wheaton. I attended. I came back to help coach while preparing to church plant. I went on into business and have come back numerous times to recruit students from Wheaton. I have family that attended Wheaton multiple generations ago and just a couple years ago. My son is a junior in high school and has a zeal for the Lord. I have wanted to steer my kids towards Wheaton since before they were born, but now I cannot in good conscience. That saddens me more than my few words can adequately describe. While recruiting I have also recruited at schools like John Brown and spoken to their president who is a fellow Wheaton alum. To talk to him and faculty and hear how their board and faculty were willing to lose their accreditation if it came to that in order to remain faithful and the powerful effect that had on campus was awesomely inspiring. That is what I want from the Wheaton that meant so much to me. That is the type of school I want to send my children and my financial giving. Until it is, I will not send my children or my financial giving there.

        I would love to send our 4 girls to   Wheaton- they would be 4th generation Wheaties. But for the aforementioned   reasons, we are looking elsewhere. Please heed this call to repentance and reorienting of the college.     

     I'd like to be more supportive of Wheaton,   but the things I see in the alumni magazine make me focus elsewhere. The rescinding of the congratulations for Russ Vought on his US Senate confirmation was scandalous.     

        My grandparents met at Wheaton. My parents met at Wheaton. I met my wife at Wheaton. My children will not meet anyone at   Wheaton if they do not “about-face” and clean house.     

             As an alum, I am deeply saddened by what I have heard about Wheaton College and also experienced first hand to some   degree. This letter accurately sums up the concerns my wife and I have had for some time now. We love Wheaton, and even though we have ceased giving   financially to Wheaton and can no longer recommend to prospective students, we will not stop praying for Wheaton College, it leadership, professors, and   students.    

        The decline was evident even while I was in   school. Praying that the Lord would renew the school that I love so much.    

          Graduated from the International Relations department, though ironically, the most consistent offenders of a disordered progressivism came from professors I had in the Art and Music departments, where one Art professor described “non-repentant white people” as a “cancer”.    

         I watched throughout my 4 years as Wheaton shifted steadily from boldly speaking the truth to fear of man and efforts to   not offend the world. The watered down gospel that many of Wheaton’s professors are preaching is an unfortunate clear example of the lukewarmness that the Lord despises.       

          Yes, yes, and yes! Thank you for heading   this up. The issues you've described have been the primary source of spiritual confusion and discouragement for me during my time at Wheaton and afterwards.       

          This proposal represents my time at Wheaton from 2016-2020 very well. While I received a fantastic education in my classes, the chapels pushed an overbearing liberal agenda. Personally I actually think it’s all right to talk about politics in chapel as long as it is balanced in both directions.      

          I have been so terribly dismayed by what I am seeing in the alumni facebook community. Graduates who unashamedly embrace abortion, socialism, LGBTQ ideology, and who express downright hatred towards a biblical worldview! What happened?? I used to dream of sending my children to my alma mater, but now I wouldn’t even consider it! I pray the leaders of Wheaton College will feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit for what they have allowed to happen within this body of students they pledged to shepherd well. 

         Thank you for the way you are standing up together and having your voices counted for Christ. We live in the area and have a number of friends who graduated from Wheaton. But we didn’t encourage our daughters to go to Wheaton over the past 10 years because of the drift you are describing. We completely support and pray for Wheaton‘s return to Biblical priorities.

        The decline was evident even while I was in   school. Praying that the Lord would renew the school that I love so much.    

        My son entered Wheaton College Fall of 2020. He graduated with honors May of 2024. The school never cease to shock me with their perpetual capitulation to leftist ideology, inside and outside the classroom. I have amazing stories! Sadly, I can't recommend Wheaton College to any parent who carries even a marginally orthodox view of Christianity.

         I exchanged emails with Dr. Ryken shortly after he was named President, warning him of the harmful agenda and influence of the Office Of Multicultural Development, which promotes a victimization mentality and which makes much of our skin color as a central part of our identity…both these positions are unbiblical. Dr. Ryken wrote back to me, which was very respectful, and explained that he disagreed that this was a problem at Wheaton. I have been praying along the lines of this letter, from time to time, for the past 20 years. To whoever organized this, thank you! 

      The Sexual and Gender Identity Institute needs to be completely excised. Accepting this while firing Laryica Hawkins (who publicly indicated Muslims and Christians worship an identical God) is textbook straining a gnat while swallowing a camel. Blatantly ignoring evidence to fire their first Black Chaplain while defaming him for sexual harassment is pretty bitter as well. Hearing that many of the faculty may privately hold views that are anti-thetical to the faith (denying the Divinity of Jesus, rejecting the authority of Scripture, advocating for universalism, appropriating secular gender/sexuality theories) requires an audit of the faculty.

      I teach at a school that has sent literally hundreds of students to Wheaton down through the years. What I hear from current students is very disconcerting, and I am trying to redirect students who want to go to the States towards better Christian colleges.

     I am concerned about the direction that Wheaton is going spiritually. We chose Wheaton College for our son because of the distinctly Christian education that he would be getting, We have sacrificed financially for him to attend an out of state private school. We will most likely be transferring our son in the fall. We are terribly disappointed. It is one thing to attend a public university and experience this liberal woke junk. We expect the world when we are in the world. BUT when an institution promotes itself to be Christian and decides to publicly promote itself as the world, it is an abomination. We are sadly disappointed by the mask Wheaton has worn. We pray and hope that you will get back to the foundational Christian root that made Wheaton such a unique and respectable academic institution.

          Lived blocks from Wheaton for 20+ years post grad, spent much time on and off campus, mentored students, and saw the dramatic shift in our county/town that the College absorbed as   well as local churches. But candidly, my own fault was that I was asleep at   the wheel and should’ve been praying against these forces.    

          Unfortunately it is the private lament of many recent graduates that Wheaton was nothing like it should’ve been. Students harassed by faculty for conservative and biblical beliefs, and faculty slandered by other faculty. Free speech and biblical truth has been stifled by wokeism permeating the staff and student body. Chaplain Blackmon, who I believe was an unwavering Bible-first leader, found his reputation slandered and his employment terminated when a snake in the faculty came for him. The president has an incredible foundation in theology and espousing biblical truth in writing but no clearly backbone to stand up for it.I  knew the future of my school was in jeopardy when a brave student asked why the college won’t publicly stand against abortion and the like: the president answered that he was afraid it would hurt students in their pursuit of employment if the school had too many news articles and controversies. Well, it’s been happening for years anyway. I grieve for the majority of professors and students there who truly are living their lives for Christ and his Kingdom while the administration lives in fear.

     I have deep Wheaton roots and connections. My wife and I both graduated from Wheaton. My two older brothers and my younger siter all graduated. My wife's mother graduated from Wheaton as did my wife's sister. Also, three of my four sons graduated from Wheaton (and I paid full freight for each of them!) I have numerous cousins who attended Wheaton (some of whom will not agree with me signing this letter). Some of my dearest friends are Wheaton graduates. All this is to say, I love Wheaton and appreciate the impact it had on my life, but I completely agree with this letter. I had these concerns 20 -25 years ago when my sons would share things with me and these concerns have been growing over the years. I had intended to write my own letter, but the letter your prepared says it better than I could have. Thank you for speaking out. Some years ago, I concluded that I could no longer support Wheaton financially nor do I recommend Wheaton to others due to this drift.

   I’ve been watching this shift and this decline from Wheaton for years and every time I hear something new, first it makes me angry, and then it makes me terribly sad. If any institution should be leading from the front and publicly and loudly proclaiming Truth in the face of the Evil that is all around us and at the gates, it should be Wheaton College. I pray that this once great Christian institution finds its way back into the center of God‘s biblical Truth and proclaims it boldly as it did previously for more than a century.

Before I arrived at Wheaton College, I received a simple piece of advice: ""Choose your friends wisely." That warning proved truer than I could have imagined once I got there. It seemed as though half the student body, along with many professors, were openly dedicated to dismantling the very institution itself: its foundations, its structures, and even its faith. During my time, there were controversies, but I took pride in how Wheaton responded, clinging to its Christian principles despite relentless pressure from students, staff, and faculty to compromise and sink into moral decay.

By the time I graduated, however, my perspective had sharpened. To me, Wheaton was on the edge of a knife, and it was more likely to fall than to rise. Years later, I'm not proud of Wheaton. I no longer support the institution’s decisions, nor do I encourage others to attend. Looking back, I realize I was part of what may have been Wheaton’s final moments of genuine promise.

I don’t know if it’s too late for Wheaton. I desperately hope it isn’t. But I wanted to add my voice to this message. Dear Wheaton, the alumni are not behind the path you’re on. We will not support you as you are. And we plead with you: return to your roots. Reaffirm your faith and your commitment to God. And, honestly, just support your alumni's achievements, especially when they’re worth it, and stop giving in to the mob.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for expressing love for Wheaton College and serious concern for the drift away from true Biblical values. I've long been brokenhearted over the discourse among the very vocal alumni who have clearly chosen the world over the things of Christ. I once longed for my children to have the opportunity to attend Wheaton College, but unless things change I would not dream of sending them there, sadly. I pray things change and I pray this letter reaches it's intended purpose. May God be glorified in the future of Wheaton College. Thank you!