Wheaton College, which boasts Billy Graham and A.W. Dozer as past graduates, is also now known for flirting with the secular culture. The school likely went too far after it pulled a congratulatory statement praising Russell Vought, an alumnus who was confirmed as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
That online post was taken down after complaints from Wheaton alumni, since Vought is an appointee of President Trump, and the school said it removed the post because it created “significant concern” online.
In a letter to the Board of Trustees, a group calling itself Concerned Alumni of Wheaton College took the school to task for what it called "mission drift," like catering to homosexual groups on campus and professors who violated Wheaton's Statement of Faith on certain theological issues.
The letter demands several things, including a change in leadership at the college, putting an end to the school's DEI efforts, and auditing the faculty for fidelity to Wheaton's Statement of Faith.
Christian apologist Dr. Alex McFarland tells AFN he has been hearing those complaints for a long time from people he talks to in Christian ministry.
“In recent years,” he relays, “a number of people and alumni with whom I've spoken have been very concerned about their woke, less-than-conservative drift.”
Wheaton College, currently home to 2,900 students, can trace its roots back to the abolitionist movement when it was a refuge for slaves on the famous Underground Railroad. The school’s list of notable alumni is a long one but Rev. Graham and slain missionary Jim Elliot are among the most famous.
Describing the school and its alumni, McFarland likens Wheaton to an “evangelical” version of Ivy League campuses such as Yale and Harvard. Much like Wheaton, those universities were also once held in high esteem but are also accused of crazily drifting off course.
AFN previously reported that Vought defended Wheaton and its Christian beliefs in 2017, when he was grilled at a Senate hearing for a student newspaper article he wrote that stated Jesus is the sole source of salvation.
After hearing whispered concerns about Wheaton for years, McFarland says he was pleased to witness alumni speaking publicly and demanding changes to their beloved school.
“I applaud the courage and the candor of the letter from concerned alumni at Wheaton College,” he tells AFN.
