Hate Mail Meant for Illinois Wheaton College Sent To Norton Wheaton

Photo caption: Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., (pictured on right) is often mistaken for the Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. Photo credit: Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., Facebook page/Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., Facebook page

• Amie Schaenzer contributed to this article.

NORTON, MA - Illinois’ Wheaton College recently made a decision to fire tenured professor Larycia Hawkins after she donned a hijab last month and said Muslims and Christians worshiped the same God, but the Wheaton College in Norton is receiving some of the backlash.

The Associated Press reports the president’s office at the Massachusetts college has been flooded with angry e-mails, some of which have included violent threats.

The mess up is nothing new as students have been known to accidentally apply to the wrong college and donors will mistakenly send money to the Wheaton in Massachusetts when they intended to send it to the Wheaton College in Illinois, according to the article.

“The name confusion is a longstanding and deep-rooted problem,” Hanno told the Associated Press. “But it’s one that we often just chuckle about.”

Hanno has sounded off on the Hawkins controversy, and how his college in Massachusetts has been affected by it, in an op-ed that appeared in the Washington Postand has been sharing his thoughts with his campus through updates posted on the college’s website. School officials at the Wheaton in Massachusetts said the controversy has “created an opportunity to highlight exactly how this Wheaton—the one in Norton, Mass.—is different from its counterpart and to express the values, goals and expectations of the secular Wheaton.”

“Our Wheaton affirms the freedom of faculty, staff and students to share their beliefs while respecting the human rights and dignity of others. … The Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., values an inclusive approach to education and the world, welcoming people from every race, ethnic or national background, religious tradition and sexual orientation,” Hanno said in a December statement.

Wheaton College officials in Illinois did not respond to requests from the Associated Press to be interviewed for their recent article.

Meanwhile, the Faculty Council at the Wheaton College in Illinois has recommended administration cease efforts to try and fire Hawkins and end her administrative leave, according to an article posted on the TIME website. Faculty was expected to have a listening session with administration late Thursday afternoon.

Wheaton College (Illinois) issued the following statement Thursday regarding the faculty council’s recommendation:

Wheaton College respects the viewpoints of its Faculty Council, which serves as a liaison between the faculty and the College administration. The Faculty Council’s decision to make a recommendation to the administration related to Dr. Larycia Hawkins’ paid administrative leave and the Provost’s subsequent Notice of Recommendation to Initiate Termination-for-Cause Proceedings regarding Dr. Hawkins is within the guidelines for the Faculty Council provided by the Faculty Handbook.

The College administration is following the established process under the Faculty Handbook for handling employment decisions pertaining to tenured faculty members. The next step in this process is a hearing before the Faculty Personnel Committee. The Faculty Personnel Committee will receive presentations from the Provost and Dr. Hawkins regarding the substantive and procedural issues each would like to raise, will review the evidence presented, and will make a formal recommendation regarding the termination of tenure. The Faculty Personnel Committee’s recommendation will then be taken into consideration by President Ryken, as he makes his recommendation to the Board of Trustees.

President Ryken and the Faculty Council have discussed a review of current policies and processes, with a view to addressing or clarifying areas of concern. However, Dr. Ryken has also asked Faculty Council to understand that the Faculty Personnel Committee hearing is the method through which the particulars of Dr. Hawkins’ personnel matter will be addressed.