Suspended Wheaton College Professor Rejects Proposal That Would Revoke Her Tenure

WHEATON, IL - Talks have broken down between a tenured Wheaton College political science professor and the private evangelical university after the teacher was suspended for saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God.

Larycia Hawkins rejected a recent proposal from the college that would allow her to teach again next fall but would revoke her tenure for at least two years, the Chicago Tribune reports. She also turned down suggestions to resign and said the college appeared to be moving toward termination.

“I was naively thinking they wanted to cooperate,” Hawkins told the Chicago Tribune. “I have tenure, and I have to fight for that.”

Hawkins, who is a Christian, said she decided to wear a hijab over advent to show her ”solidarity for her Muslim neighbor.”

“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God,” Hawkins wrote in a Dec. 10 Facebook post. “As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state that initiated one of the first anti-Sharia laws (read: unconstitutional and Islamophobic), and at church.”

In a statement, college officials said they did not ask for Hawkins to resign.

“At Dr. Hawkins’ request, the college proposed the terms of separation if she chose to resign. We have not asked her to resign and did not suggest that she do so,” according to the statement. “Although Dr. Hawkins and the college have begun discussions regarding the possibility of a voluntary resignation, those discussions have not yet been successful and may have reached an impasse.”

• The full statement can be found on the Wheaton College website.

Read more on the Chicago Tribune.