Wheaton College responds to “woke” label

Wheaton College is firing back after being labeled “woke” in a Fox News column.  President Philip Ryken called the claim “incendiary” in a statement.

Columnist Tim Scheiderer wrote in his article that the school has started to “mimic Harvard’s wokeness” by “banning biblical words, teaching critical race theory and psychologizing gender identity issues.”

“In the 19th century, Harvard was slowly and permanently transformed from a Christian university into a secular one,” he wrote. “At Wheaton, the biblical belief in only two sexes is being tainted. With this and the other shifts mentioned, it may seem like a slow drift. But a gentle tide can carry a boat far from its dock.”

READ: Wheaton restricts use of preferred pronouns

The column referenced Wheaton’s “Statement on Gender-Inclusive Language,” which reads, in part, “Terms such as ‘mankind,’ ‘man’ (when referring to both sexes) or ‘he’ as a generic third person singular, should be replaced with terms such as ‘humanity,’ ‘human’ or ‘person’ and ‘he or she.’”

Ryken says the column made “various claims about the College that are either false or misleading,” claiming it “fails to meet minimal standards for journalistic accuracy.”

In January, the college updated its student handbook with the intention of solidifying its belief in a sexual binary between male and female.

“We’re trying to be clear about who we are, what we believe, how we’re trying to care for people and also be faithful to the convictions, scriptural convictions, that the college has,” said Paul Chelsen, vice president of student development at Wheaton. “So we’re seeking to be faithful and caring both.”

The student handbook also bars Wheaton employees from implementing preferred pronouns.

Ryken said the Fox News columnist’s allegations were “cobbled from out-of-context items found on the internet” and called out the writer for “not naming any sources or giving any citations for his many contentions.”

“Wheaton College remains fully committed to Christian service — which we embrace as ‘service’ in our very mission statement — to biblical orthodoxy and Christ-centered education, including in matters of human sexuality, gender identity and race relations,” he said.

For his part, Scheiderer says the school’s actions needed to be covered.

“Writing this article was not a pleasurable experience. When pointing out how a group or a person has veered from Christian orthodoxy, it is quite saddening,” he wrote. “I care deeply about higher education and its impact on today’s young people and even more so when it is a Christian institution. Hence, it was an article I had to write.”

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice