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Wheaton College is a Private Evangelical Protestant, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb twenty-five miles west of Chicago in the United States.

History

Wheaton College was founded in 1860. Its predecessor, the Illinois Institute, had been founded in late 1853 by Wesleyan Methodists as a college and preparatory school. Wheaton's first president, Jonathan Blanchard was a former president of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and a staunch abolitionist with ties to Oberlin College. Blanchard separated the college from any denominational support and was responsible for its new name, given in honor of trustee and benefactor Warren L. Wheaton.

At this time, Wheaton was the only school in Illinois with a college-level women's program. Blanchard used the school as a platform for abolitionism, anti-Masonic advocacy, and his national presidential campaign on the anti-Masonic American Party ticket in 1884.

In 1882, Charles A. Blanchard succeeded his father as president of the college.

In the fall of 1925, J. Oliver Buswell, an outspoken Presbyterian, delivered a series of lectures at Wheaton College. Shortly thereafter, President Charles Blanchard died and Buswell was called to be the third president of Wheaton. Upon his installation in April of 1926, he became the nation's youngest college president. Buswell's tenure was characterized by expanding enrollment (from approximately 400 in 1925 to 1,100 in 1940), a building program, strong academic development, and a boom in the institution's reputation, but also a divisiveness over faculty scholarship and personalities. In 1940 this tension led to the sacking of Buswell for being, as two historians of the college put it, "too argumentative in temperament and too intellectual in his approach to Christianity."The Opening of the Evangelical Mind By the late 1940s, Wheaton was emerging as a fortress of neo-evangelicalism.

By 1950, enrollment at the college surpassed 1,600, and in the second half of the twentieth century enrollment growth and more selective admissions accompanied athletic success, additional and improved facilities, and expanded programs.

In 1951, Honey Rock, a camp in northern Wisconsin, was purchased by the college.

Wheaton College made national headlines on February 20, 2003 when it lifted its then 143 year-old ban on student dancing. In addition to allowing undergraduate students to dance, Wheaton granted "adult faculty members and grad students ... the freedom to choose whether they want to smoke or drink alcohol, at least while off-campus."

Wheaton again appeared in the news when Joshua Hochschild, assistant professor of philosophy, was dismissed in 2004 for converting to Roman Catholicism.

Criticism and Controversy

Wheaton College has received criticism in recent years from some conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists for progressive teachings by some of its faculty. Areas of controversy have included certain evolutionary theories being taught in at least one anthropology course (by a professor who has since left the college), some plays performed in the drama department, and issues regarding the gender of the Godhead. In 2003, at least one conservative Christian group was asked to leave campus by security personnel for displaying signs condemning the school's theology. Debate has continually arisen regarding the Wheaton College Gay and Lesbian Alumni/ae Association - an unofficial organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Wheaton alumni, including Liz Edman, V. Raymond Edman's lesbian granddaughter. Conservative critics have said that it has become increasingly difficult for the college to retain its conservative values, citing its location in what they consider to be the liberal western suburbs of Chicago.

Progressive alumni have expressed concern about a move away from an open and inclusive community to a more restrictive and fundamentalist one, similar to the modus operandi of the college during the modernist debate of the early twentieth century - a conflict resulting in the sacking of President Buswell.

The selection and early presidency of Duane Litfin (1993-present) was controversial as Litfin was previously a pastor in an evangelical church and had no experience in higher education administration, which differentiated him from other candidates. Throughout the search for a new president for Wheaton, the students, alumni, and faculty expressed concern that the Board of Trustees was not involving them enough in the selection process.

Issues generating controversy since 1993 have often centered on academic freedom and religious conscience. The role of the college's president in relation to academic departments (especially in the natural sciences and religious studies) has resulted in conflict over curriculum and new faculty hires and in the resignation/departure of several professors. For example, the teaching of modern evolutionary biology was threatened by presidential pressure, and the hiring of at least one faculty candidate by the religion deparment was prevented solely upon direction by the college's president. The long-standing, explicit ban on Roman Catholic speakers in the college's chapel services has recently been extended to teaching faculty. This was not the case when Thomas Howard, '57 (Professor of English * at St. John's Seminary, Boston) taught English Literature at Wheaton. (See the comment on Joshua Hochschild under "Trivia.")

Academics

Students may choose from about 40 majors in many liberal arts disciplines and in the sciences. The most popular in recent years have been Business, Communications, English, and Psychology.

Wheaton maintains a strong academic record with an average of 37 National Merit Finalists. U.S. News and World Report has noted that Wheaton is often called the "Harvard of evangelical colleges."U.S. News and World Report

In 2005, U.S. News and World Report ranked Wheaton College 52nd out of 217 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges and Wheaton College ranked 9th in the nation in the total number of graduates (all fields) who went on to earn doctorates according to Franklin and Marshall University's latest survey, which included more than 900 private colleges and universities.

In 1935, The Wheaton College Science Station was established in the Black Hills of South Dakota for field instruction in the natural sciences.

Conservatory of Music

Wheaton College is home to an internationally-recognized Conservatory of Music, fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. The Conservatory offers two professional music degrees: the Bachelor of Music (with emphases in performance, composition, history and literature, or elective studies) and the Bachelor of Music Education. 100% of the teaching faculty in the Conservatory hold doctorates. There are approximately 220 music majors in the Conservatory, with a student:faculty ratio of 7:1. Music majors and liberal arts majors alike perform in the Conservatory's six large ensembles: Concert Choir, Jazz Ensemble, Men's Glee Club, Symphonic Band, Symphony Orchestra, and Women's Chorale.

Graduate School

The Wheaton College Graduate School was founded in 1937, with the intent to provide further theological and ministerial training. Graduate students come from all over the world to attend, and may study for an M.A., M.A.T., or Ph.D. in Biblical and Theological Studies, or a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology. The once widely respected Department of Communications of the Graduate School has been closed. Approximately 500 graduate students are enrolled.

Degrees Offered

  • Arts & Sciences:
    • Ancient Languages
    • Anthropology
    • Applied Health Science
    • Archaeology
    • Art
    • Biblical Archaeology
    • Biblical & Theological Studies
    • Biology
    • Business/Economics
    • Chemistry
    • Christian Education & Ministry
    • Communication
    • Computer Science
    • Economics
    • Education
    • Engineering (Liberal Arts) 3/2
    • English
    • Environmental Studies
    • French
    • Geology
    • German History
    • History/Social Science
    • Interdisciplinary Studies
    • International Relations
    • Engineering
    • Mathematics
    • Music (6 majors)
    • Nursing (Liberal Arts) 3/2
    • Philosophy
    • Physical Science
    • Physics
    • Political Science
    • Psychology
    • Sociology
    • Spanish
    • World Religions

  • Conservatory of Music:
    • Composition
    • Education
    • History/Literature
    • Performance
  • Music with elective studies in an outside field:
    • Biblical & Theological Studies
    • Business
    • Christian Education & Ministry
    • English
    • Mathematics/Computer Science
    • Media
    • Modern Languages Psychology
    • Sociocultural Studies
    • Theater
    • Third World Studies
    • Alternate Field
  • Graduate School:
    • Biblical Archaeology
    • Biblical Exegesis
    • Biblical Studies
    • Christian Formation & Ministry
    • Clinical Psychology
    • Counseling Ministries
    • Evangelism
    • General Theology
    • History of Christianity
    • Intercultural Studies
    • Intercultural Studies and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
    • Master of Arts in Teaching (Primary and Secondary)
    • Missions
    • Religion in American Life
    • Systematic & Historical Theology
    • Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical & Theological Studies
    • Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)

Campus

Wheaton's most recognizable and oldest building is Blanchard Hall, a limestone tower built as the main College building in 1853. At the time, the College building was one of only two on campus, the other (called the "boarding hall") being a frame building at the foot of the hill crowned by the tower. Jonathan Blanchard had a vision for the expansion of this tower structure: its castle-like architecture is, supposedly, patterned after buildings at the University of Oxford which Blanchard admired on a trip to England in 1843. After four additions (1871, 1873, 1890, 1927) the Main Building was completed in 1927. In this year, under college president J. Oliver Buswell, Jr., the Main Building was renamed Blanchard Hall, to honor Wheaton's first two presidents, Jonathan Blanchard and his son Charles Blanchard.

Academic

In 1900 the brick "Industrial Building" was built. From 1917-45 it housed the Wheaton Academy, and from 1945-60 the Graduate School. In 1960 it was renamed Buswell Hall, and in 1980 Schell Hall in honor of Edward R. Schell.

The Library, named after college trustee Robert E. Nicholas, opened in January 1952. In 1975 Buswell Memorial Library, named for the college's third president J. Oliver Buswell, Jr., was built adjacent to the Nicholas Library and an interior corridor linked the two, creating the college's main library.

The science departments are housed in Breyer (Chemistry) and Armerding (Biology, Geology, Math, and Physics) halls. Armerding Hall is also the home to the Wheaton College Observatory (a feature of the college since the presidency of Charles Blanchard in the late-nineteenth century). In 1935, The Wheaton College Science Station was established in the Black Hills of South Dakota for field instruction in the natural sciences.

The Marion E. Wade Center, formerly housed in Buswell Library, moved to its new purpose-built home in September 2001. The Marion E. Wade Center, established in 1965 by professor of English Clyde S. Kilby, is an extensive research library and museum of the books and papers of seven British writers: C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, Dorothy L. Sayers, George MacDonald, and Charles Williams.

Athletic

The Gymnasium, later renamed Adams Hall, was built in 1898. Today it is home to the Art Department.

Alumni Gymnasium (renamed the Edward A. Coray Alumni Gymnasium in 1968, in honor of Coach Ed Coray's long service), was built during the Edman presidency and paid for by alumni. The cornerstone was laid at homecoming on October 11, 1941. A copper box placed in the cornerstone contained a copy of the Wheaton Record, the Wheaton Daily Journal, a college catalog, a student directory, and a copy of the Homecoming program.

Wyngarten Health Center was built in 1958, followed by Centennial Gymnasium in 1959-60, which was extensively renovated and expanded in 2000. It is now part of the Sports and Recreation Complex (SRC).

Student Life

The Memorial Student Center (MSC) was dedicated on June 11, 1951. It was built in memory of over 1600 former students and graduates who served in World War II and in honor of those 39 who gave their lives. It housed the Student Union café, nick-named "the Stupe". An early pamphlet described the new building and listed some of the rules for its use, such as No Rook Playing and No Playing of Boogie-Woogie, Jazz, or Otherwise Abusing the Piano.

The Dining Hall (now the "Old Dining Hall" ODH) opened January 4, 1953. Today it houses Student Services.

Jenks Hall is home to the Arena Theater, which was established in the Fall of 1974 and has staged over 100 full length productions.

In the fall of 2004 the Todd M. Beamer Student Center was completed. Beamer was a Wheaton alumnus, part of a small group of passengers who stormed the hijackers thus bringing down United Flight 93 in rural Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001 and preventing it from reaching its target.

Spirituality

The Chapel, on the corner of Washington and Franklin streets, was dedicated on November 15, 1925. This building was also used by the college for commencements and other important assemblies. In 1936-37, it was renamed the Orlinda Childs Pierce Memorial Chapel. Neighboring McAlister Hall is home to the Conservatory of Music.

The college's regular chapel services are held in Edman Memorial Chapel, which seats 2,400. It is named for V. Raymond Edman, fourth president of the college. Edman died in 1967 while speaking in chapel. Campus tradition holds that he was preaching on being in the presence of the King. This chapel/auditorium is also used for many events of Wheaton's performing arts programs. In 2000, an entirely handcrafted organ made by Casavant Frères of Canada was installed.

Other

The building housing the Billy Graham Center (BGC), named after one of the college's most well-known graduates, the evangelist Billy Graham, opened in September 1980. Though the "Billy Graham Center" itself, as the repository of the evangelist's corporate records, had existed since 1974. The BGC houses several evangelism institutes, a museum of the history of evangelism, the college's Archives and Special Collections, as well as the Wheaton College Graduate School.

The Womens' Building, renamed Williston Hall in 1930-31 (in honor of longtime Blanchard friend and donor, J.P. Williston), was built in 1895. Its construction required the college to borrow $6000.

The President's House, or Westgate, formerly owned by college trustee John M. Oury, was presented to President Buswell on the tenth anniversary of his inauguration, April 23, 1936. This served as the home of three of Wheaton's subsequent presidents. It now houses the Office of Alumni Relations.

Notable alumni

Religion

Entertainment

Education

Politics

Unclassified

  • Steven Bass
  • Todd Beamer, 9/11 Victim
  • William J. Danker (missiologist)
  • Paul Gast
  • John Wesley Powell (famed nineteenth-century geologist and explorer of the American West)
  • Violet Bergquist Redding (linguist)

Presidents

Trivia

  • Upon entrance into the college, undergraduate students are required to sign a "Community Covenant" prohibiting the use of alcohol and tobacco, as well as extra-marital sexual activity, during the semesters. Graduate students may partake of alcohol and tobacco, but neither on campus nor in the presence of undergraduate students.

  • Students who become engaged or celebrate an anniversary may ring the bell in Blanchard Tower to celebrate momentous occasions.

  • Wheaton College was one of the first colleges in Illinois to graduate African-American students. Not long after its founding, students of color began attending the college, then known as the Illinois Institute.

  • The official student newspaper at Wheaton College is the Wheaton Record, a weekly publication in existence since 1876. The Record is produced by students and published by the college and distributed each Friday after chapel free of charge. The Record was the recipient of the 2006 John David Reed General Excellence Award and 13 other awards from the Illinois College Press Association, of which it is a member. The Record is also a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The college does not currently permit the Record to be published online.

  • A long line of pranks have been played during chapel services, including dropping mice in parachutes from the ceiling.

References

  • T. A. Askew, "The Liberal Arts College Encounters Intellectual Change: A Comparative Study of Education at Knox and Wheaton Colleges, 1837-1925" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University, 1969).
  • P. M. Bechtel, Wheaton College: A Heritage Remembered, 1860–1984 (Wheaton: Shaw, 1984).
  • E. E. Cairns, V. Raymond Edman: In the Presence of the King (Chicago: Moody, 1972).
  • E. A. Coray, The Wheaton I Remember: Memoirs (Chicago: Books for Living, 1974).
  • M. S. Hamilton, "The Fundamentalist Harvard: Wheaton College and the Continuing Vitality of American Evangelicalism, 1919-1965" (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Notre Dame, 1995), advisor, Nathan O. Hatch.
  • M. S. Hamilton, The Fundamentalist Harvard: Wheaton College, Evangelicalism, and American Higher Education (Oxford University Press or Columbia University Press, forthcoming).
  • J. D. Lower, "An Evaluation of the Marion E. Wade Collection, Wheaton College, as a Research Collection" (unpublished A.M. thesis, University of Chicago, 1978).

External links

Liberal arts colleges | Christian College Consortium | Christian universities and colleges | DuPage County, Illinois | Universities and colleges in Illinois

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Wheaton College (Illinois)".

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