A tenured professor at Wheaton College suspended for saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God has reached an agreement with the west suburban evangelical school to end her employment there, while the administrator who called for her termination has apologized for acting in haste.
Wheaton Provost Stanton Jones told professors in an email Saturday night that he had turned over the decision of whether to vacate the administrative leave of their colleague, Larycia Hawkins, to college President Philip Ryken. But two hours later, faculty received another email from Ryken, informing them that Hawkins would not return to teach.
“The administration and Dr. Hawkins have come to a place of resolution and reconciliation,” Ryken wrote. “With a mutual desire for God’s blessing, we have decided to part ways.”
Ryken invited faculty to a private worship service at Edman Memorial Chapel Tuesday night and a reception, where Hawkins will say goodbye.
“This is a time for prayer, lament, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation,” Ryken said.
The settlement agreement appears to bring to a close a drama that began in December when Hawkins announced on Facebook that she would don a hijab as part of her Advent devotion to show support for Muslims who had been under scrutiny since mass shootings in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.
“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book,” she posted on Facebook, along with a photograph of herself in a hijab. “And as Pope Francis stated ... we worship the same God.”
Within days, the college placed Hawkins on paid administrative leave through the spring semester, pending a review. According to the private evangelical college, not clarifying what makes Christianity distinct from Islam put Hawkins in conflict with Wheaton’s statement of faith. Though she submitted a theological response to questions about her statement of solidarity, Jones said it did not resolve the issues.
Hawkins said the college had recommended that she resign. She said the college also proposed a two-year revocation of her tenure, during which time she would continue conversations about the theological implications of her statements and her decision to wear the hijab. Then, before students returned to campus from winter break in January, Jones took the first step toward firing Hawkins.
A few weeks later, the college’s Faculty Council, a group of professors elected by their peers, unanimously recommended withdrawing Hawkins’ suspension and halting termination proceedings against the associate professor of political science, “due to grave concerns about the process.”
In his email to colleagues Saturday night, Jones said he stood by his concerns about Hawkins’ theological statements but added that he apologized for appearing to question the sincerity of her Christian faith and acknowledged that he had failed to see her theological response “was a promising start toward answering satisfactorily some of the questions that I was raising at the time.”
“I asked Dr. Hawkins for her forgiveness for the ways I contributed to the fracture of our relationship, and to the fracture of Dr. Hawkins’ relationship with the college,” he wrote. “While I acted to exercise my position of oversight of the faculty within the bounds of Wheaton College employment policies and procedures, I apologized for my lack of wisdom and collegiality as I initially approached Dr. Hawkins, and for imposing an administrative leave more precipitously than was necessary.”
On Saturday, some faculty expressed anger and confusion. Given the proximity of both announcements, some questioned whether Jones’ apology was merely a condition of a legal settlement. They also didn’t like the political appearance of the college trying to appease both the conservative and progressive sides of its constituencies.
Ryken said because Hawkins’ suspension raised concerns about academic freedom, due process, the leaking of confidential information, possible violations of faculty governance, and gender and racial discrimination, he has asked the board of trustees to conduct a review. He said he hopes that review will improve the way Wheaton College addresses faculty personnel issues in the future, especially when they relate to the statement of faith.
Shortly after Faculty Council called for Hawkins’ reinstatement, Gary Burge, a professor of New Testament, said he looked forward to what he called “a restoration and reconciliation service” at Edman Chapel to celebrate Hawkins’ return and repent for the way she had been mistreated. The service Tuesday only fulfills half of that aspiration.
“This decision by the provost is a tribute to his integrity and courage,” Burge said. “But many of us are wondering why the president’s reconciliation with Dr. Hawkins did not include her remaining on our faculty.”