Introduction
“For Christ and His Kingdom!” The motto of Wheaton College is consistent with our belief that Christ’s Kingdom is diverse and includes every “nation, tribe, people, and language” (Revelation 7:9). Wheaton’s ongoing commitment to such kingdom diversity thus is rooted in the College’s biblical and theological convictions and extends to recognizing and celebrating the value of racial[1], ethnic, and cultural diversity throughout our community.
In keeping with this vision, the College’s Diversity Council has created a document called “Administrative Vision for Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversity at Wheaton College.” The Diversity Council, active since 1996, is a group of selected staff, faculty, and administrators who make recommendations to promote kingdom diversity and conduct open conversations with the President about diversity issues.
This document addresses administrative aspirations in matters of kingdom diversity pertaining to student programming, recruitment, enrollment, and administration, as well as recruitment, promotion, and retention of faculty and staff.
Administrative Vision
Wheaton College exists “to build the church and benefit society worldwide.” We desire to do more than simply develop the cognitive skills of our students. We seek also to develop whole and effective Christians whose character reflects the values of the kingdom of God. A biblical understanding of academic subjects, and of the Christian life as expressed in our Community Covenant, directs us in educating the whole person. Awareness of the needs of the church and society worldwide should promote the continual reformation of our educational programs.
If we are indeed to “educate the whole person to build the church and benefit society worldwide,” as a community we must model for our students how to seek unity and love, encourage the well-being of persons both individually and relationally, and promote justice and reconciliation between all members of God's family. Our commitment to function as a redeemed community under the Lordship of Jesus Christ is the thrust of our Community Covenant.
God values unity among all of humanity and love across all racial and ethnic divisions, whether expressed in the creational vision of a unified human family (Genesis 1-3; Ephesians 3:15), our Lord's prayer for unity among his disciples (John 17:23), the Apostle Paul's bold proclamation that a
primary intention of the Gospel is uniting all people with God and hence with each other (Ephesians 2:11-19), or the Apostle John's apocalyptic vision of “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb” and singing their praises to God (Revelation 7:9). Contributing to such unity is a direct imperative of our mission to serve Christ and His Kingdom; we recognize and celebrate the diversity of God’s Kingdom.
Our goal is to prepare our students to understand and negotiate the domestic and global realities of a racially and ethnically diverse church, as well as to heal the division and strife in relations between peoples of different races and cultures. Developing the intercultural competencies of our students requires that we become a racially and ethnically diverse educational community. We aim for a Christ-centered community where the development of whole and effective Christians is facilitated by the very structure and functioning of the community. As a liberal arts college with a theological vision articulated in our Statement of Faith, and a commitment to excellence in liberal arts and graduate programs, we are called by God to be a Christian community of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural perspectives.
We apply our vision to matters of racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity by creating effective programs to address these issues and by recruiting students and employees (faculty and staff) who share these guiding commitments. To that end, we support the four-fold resolution of the Wheaton College faculty (Spring 2001) to:
- more fully value the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of God's children among our students, faculty, administration and staff;
- recruit Christians of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds underrepresented on the Wheaton campus;
- equip our students to more effectively engage and serve an increasingly diverse nation and world by creating curricula that address the diversity of race, ethnicity, religion, and culture in shaping human knowledge and community; and
- make the college into a more welcoming community of faith for those followers of Christ who are now underrepresented.
The following represents our administrative aspirations in matters of racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity:
- We will continue to support the enhancement of our educational and employment practices to increase our effectiveness in developing intercultural competencies in our students to embrace the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of church and society. Constant program and policy review is mandated in light of the values articulated here.
- Through the Office of Global Programs and Studies we will seek to explore and extend global study opportunities. We will continue to recruit a student body reflective of the church worldwide, to think creatively about global emphases in our undergraduate and graduate educational programs, and to establish meaningful, mutually beneficial international partnerships.
- We will substantially enhance our efforts to widen the representation of evangelical Christians from a variety of racial and ethnic communities among our student and employee candidates by advertising and promoting our identity and work in ever-wider circles of the Christian community.
- Decisions about student enrollment and employee recruitment will take into consideration, but will not be based upon racial, ethnic, and cultural competency, as this enhances the kingdom diversity of our campus community, and will assist us in the discharge of our institutional mission of preparing our students to serve a diverse world community.
[1] All human beings share the same biology. The idea of human “races” represents an inaccurate understanding of human biological variation and incorrectly links cultural differences with supposed biological ones. Though race is a human construct with meaning that has changed over time, beliefs in the existence of human “races” have real and powerful social consequences. We use the term “racial” in this document as a reference to these beliefs in order to address the impact they have and the damage they have sometimes inflicted upon human societies.