Category Archives: News

By Micah McIntyre, News Editor

10.11.19

Buswell Library’s Special Collections, housed in the Billy Graham Center (BGC) recently acquired over 1,300 volumes of rare books from Chicago’s McCormick Theological Seminary, some of which date as far back as 1572. This new influx of books represents the library’s largest single collection of rare books since the Akin Book Collection, a 4,000 volume collection of British literature was donated by William S. Akin in 1968.

Some of the titles include a first edition of John Calvin’s transcriptions of his sermons on Galatians, a third edition of the Book of Mormon and abolitionist pamphlets.

By Madeline Seeland

10.04.19

This weekend the Student Alumni Board (SAB) will welcome hundreds of alumni from across the globe back to campus for this year’s homecoming weekend.

“It’s our biggest SAB event of the year, and it’s right off the bat,” said junior Donovan Gleeson, a current member of SAB. “We get back from [Student Development week] and jump straight into it.” This year the classes of 2014, 2009, 1999, 1994 and 1989 will return to Wheaton for reunions.

By Carolina Lumetta, News Reporter

10.04.19

On Oct. 3, Rodney Sisco (‘84) was posthumously given the Distinguished Service to Alma Mater Award for 34 years of dedicated service to the Wheaton community as a friend, colleague and mentor. The inscription on the plaque commended Sisco for “a gentle, affirming presence” and “for consistency and artistry in nurturing diversity and unity among the body of Christ.”

Students, staff and alumni gathered in Coray Gymnasium to remember their friend and colleague and to celebrate his impact on their lives and the lives of countless others during his time at Wheaton.

By Carolina Lumetta, News Reporter

09.27.19

If you type “notable Wheaton alumni” in a Google search, you will find the names of influential evangelical leaders such as Jim Elliot, John Piper and Billy Graham appear on your screen. But Wheaton’s notable alumni base has recently expanded to include Piper Curda (‘19), an alumna who stands out as one of the few women of color mentioned in the database.

Curda is an experienced actress and has starred in several TV-shows and films, including the web-series “Just Another Nice Guy” and Disney Channel’s “I Didn’t Do It” and “Teen Beach 2.” After graduating from Wheaton last May with a degree in interpersonal communications, she moved to Los Angeles to resume her acting career.

In an interview with the Record, Curda recounted her days at Wheaton and how those experiences have impacted her career.

By Melissa Schill, News Reporter

09.27.19

Wheaton College hosted a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) visit day on Thursday, Sept. 26 and Friday, Sept. 27 to give prospective students a closer look at the STEM departments. Students attended STEM classes, stayed overnight with STEM students, toured the Meyer Science Center, listened to panels and attended an interactive open house.

“When prospective students [visit Wheaton], they try to visualize themselves being here, and sometimes that can be really difficult,” Secondary Science Education Coordinator Betsy Leong said. “[The STEM visit day] is really trying to remove that barrier.”

By Bethany Peterson

09.20.19

Four Wheaton students are suing the city of Chicago for infringing on their constitutional right to preach openly in Millennium Park. During a press conference on Wednesday morning in front of the iconic bean-shaped statue, sophomores Jeremy Chong, Gabriel Emerson and Matt Swart and junior Caeden Hood gathered around their attorney, John Mauck, who announced their intention to seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the city from enforcing new ordinances restricting “free speech” in the park.

Signed into effect by Commissioner Mark Kelly in April of 2019, these ordinances divide Millennium Park into eleven outdoor “rooms.” The ordinances also prohibit the “making of speeches and passing out of written communications” in all but one room — “Wrigley Square and Millennium Park Monument” — and public sidewalks. “It seems as if they’re trying to push us out of the park by putting us in the corner of the park [where] the least people are,” said Hood.

These restrictions are part of an ongoing conflict between the students and the city that began last December.

By Charles Hermesmann, Managing Editor

09.20.19

Almost a week after Latinx student leaders from Wheaton College’s Unidad club hosted their first-ever chapel service in Edman, students are still grappling with the fallout of a controversial social media post about the historic event.

Not long after students were dismissed from Unidad’s chapel on Monday, news quickly spread of an image posted on the “Wheaton College Chapel Memes” Instagram account. The post contained a picture of eight Unidad students and faculty advisor Nathan Cartagena onstage with the words “our suffering servants” typed in bold across the bottom. The caption read, “Obviously the most oppressed people at this school would get thunderous applause from half the school for saying their name” and included the hashtags “#wedontjustmowlawns” and “#dontspeakspanish.”

By Carolina Lumetta, News Reporter

09.20.19

On Thursday, Sept. 12, the freshman class elected Amelia Miller and Elijah Owens to represent them as council co-presidents in Wheaton’s Student Government (SG) by a ranked vote.

By Micah McIntyre, News Editor

09.13.19

On Monday, Politico Magazine reported that documents obtained from some of Falwell’s personal aides revealed that the controversial college president has created a “culture of self-dealing,” allotting university funds to finance projects that benefit his family and associates.

By Micah McIntyre, News Editor

09.13.19

On Sept. 5, the Wheaton College President’s Office announced the adoption of the Christ-Centered Diversity Commitment, an official statement about the college’s mission to prioritize campus diversity.

Chief Intercultural Engagement Officer Sheila Caldwell spearheaded the creation of the commitment, a process that took 12 months to complete. A statement from the President’s Office said that 27 different academic departments contributed to the formation of the document, which went through 15 iterations before the final draft was approved by the Board of Trustees in July. In a video with President Ryken on the Wheaton website, Caldwell explained how the commitment is rooted in theology.

“Jesus is at the center of everything we do here at Wheaton College,” said Caldwell. “[The commitment] is aligned with our statement of faith as well as our Community Covenant.”