Urban Passage

Urban Passage: Downtown and Woodlawn Overviews

Wheaton College is a brief train ride to Chicago, America's third most populous city. Passage invites students to start their Wheaton journey by experiencing Chicago's diverse culture and rich history. Students may select from Passage: Downtown or Passage: Woodlawn .

Urban Passage: Downtown will take you right into the heart of the global city of Chicago. Students can participate in various urban experiences from kayaking to exploring public art and architecture and visiting neighborhoods representative of the richness of Chicago's ethnic diversity. With small groups of peers, you will engage in multiple facets of the city, from the skyscraper-stacked lakefront to historic neighborhoods with multigenerational businesses, restaurants, and communities. Through the lens of Christian faith, you will explore topics like immigrant and refugee experiences, wealth and inequality, and flourishing in urban places as you form close friendships to start your Wheaton College experience.

Time	Activity
7:00-8:00	Personal Prayer and Scripture Time
8:00-9:00	Continental Breakfast at International Hostel
9:00-10:00	Use public transportation to travel to the Pilsen neighborhood in groups.
10:00-11:00	Visit National Museum of Mexican Art
11:00-12:00	Pilsen Neighborhood Mural Walk
12:00-1:30	Lunch at a local Hispanic restaurant
1:30-2:30	Small Group Devotion Time
2:30-3:00	Return to International Hostel
3:00-5:00	CORE 131 Reading Time
5:00-6:00	Dinner at local dining hall
7:00-7:45	Evening Passage program and worship
7:45-10:00	CORE 131 Class with Wheaton College Faculty
10:00-11:30	Late night fun at International Hostel

*Approximate schedule provided; subject to change.

Urban Passage: Woodlawn will take you right into Chicago's Southside, where you will reside at Wheaton's Urban Studies facility located in Chicago’s Woodlawn community, the historic home of Emmett Till, Lorraine Hansberry, and Jesse Owens. Dedicated to community partnership, Urban Passage: Woodlawn will connect you to organizations that minister in the Woodlawn neighborhood. With small groups of peers, you will engage with topics of race, justice, and urban spaces through the lens of Christian faith. You will enjoy proximity to the University of Chicago, the future Obama Center and Library, and delicious food from all over the world, as you form close friendships to start your Wheaton College experience.

Time	Activity
8:00-9:00	Personal Prayer and Scripture Time
9:00-9:45	Students prepare breakfast in apartments
9:45-10:00	Woodlawn Morning Meeting
10:00-12:30	Woodlawn Historic Driving Tour
12:30-1:00	Lunch in apartments
1:00-3:00	Community Garden volunteering
3:00-4:30	Rest and Play
4:30-5:30	Cooking and dinner with apartment group
5:30-6:30	Travel to Loop Neighborhood to meet with Urban Passage: Downtown
7:00-7:45	Evening Passage program and worship
7:45-10:00	CORE 131 Class with Wheaton College Faculty
10:00-11:00	Travel back to Woodlawn apartments

*Approximate schedule provided; subject to change.

Location, Accommodations, and Food for Urban Passage

Location

Urban Passage: Downtown will go out from the Central Loop area of downtown Chicago into various cultural neighborhoods. Urban Passage: Woodlawn will be based in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, but will also visit other surrounding neighborhoods. Programming for Urban Passage: Downtown and Woodlawn overlap at times and are distinct at times.

Accommodations

At both locations, students will stay in rooms with ensuite bathrooms along with 6-8 fellow first year students.

Food

Urban Passage students will have the opportunity to occasionally enjoy cultural cuisine when in local neighborhoods. For Urban Passage: Downtown, most meals are served as continental breakfast or in a local dining hall. For Urban Passage: Woodlawn, most meals are prepared in Woodlawn apartment kitchens.

Passage Registration Opens January 15, 2025

Urban Passage

Urban Passage features two trips to choose from: Downtown and Woodlawn. On either Urban Passage trip, expect to be moved by the compelling stories embedded in the historical and cultural neighborhoods of Chicago. Don't be surprised if you find yourself forming new friendships as you laugh together on the platform waiting for the next "L" Train to arrive on the Green Line.

Explore Urban Passage

To all those who might have reservations of attending Urban Passage like I did, know that God used Passage to confirm Wheaton College as the right choice for me. You will thrive no matter what your background or personality type is, and Urban Passage is exactly that, the Rite of Passage to a transformational experience at Wheaton College. Let's go!" — Hunter James Benson '23

Urban Passage: Downtown and Woodlawn Overviews

Urban Passage: Downtown

Urban Passage: Woodlawn

Location, Accommodations, and Food for Urban Passage

Location

Accommodations

Food

Other Passage pages