Professor suspended after saying Christians, Muslims have same God

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Wheaton professor suspended for saying Muslims, Christians worship same god Before her suspension, Dr. Larycia Hawkins had already received attention for choosing to wear a hijab during the Advent season to show support for Muslims.

CHICAGO — Wheaton College has suspended a political science professor who said her fellow Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

The prominent Christian college's decision, which sparked protest on campus Wednesday, came days after Larycia Hawkins, a tenured professor, received attention in Christian media outlets after announcing she would wear a traditional headscarf, known as a hijab, through the Christian Advent season. Wearing the hijab is part of her personal effort to show solidarity with Muslims, who have faced backlash in the aftermath of recent mass shootings in San Bernardino, Calif. and Paris.

In subsequent comments she made on her Facebook page, Hawkins said that the act was meant to show support for Muslims, whom she called "people of the book." She also paraphrased comments recently made by Pope Francis that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

After Hawkins' decision to wear a hijab received attention, the college issued a statement last week noting it "has no stated position on the wearing of headscarves as a gesture of care and concern."

But Wheaton officials on Tuesday evening announced they were placing Hawkins on administrative leave "in response to significant questions regarding the theological implications of statements" she made about the relationship between Islam and Christianity.

"Wheaton College faculty and staff make a commitment to accept and model our institution's faith foundations with integrity, compassion and theological clarity," the college said in a statement. "As they participate in various causes, it is essential that faculty and staff engage in and speak about public issues in ways that faithfully represent the College's evangelical statement of faith."

Hawkins on Wednesday said she stands by her comments and suggested they did not conflict with the college's statement of faith, which underscores that a biblical perspective informs a Wheaton education.

"In the spirit of Advent, my actions were motivated by a desire to live out my faith," said Hawkins, who is a Christian. "And to live out my faith in solidarity with my neighbor, who is a Muslim. That's what it's about."

By early Wednesday evening, more than 1,200 people, including current students and alumni, signed a petition launched at Change.org calling on the college to reinstate Hawkins. Several prominent Chicago area clergy also offered support for the professor.

"No one should face suspension for what was an act of love," Carter Harms, a student from Dallas, Texas, said.

But Samantha Harris, a director of policy research at the campus free speech advocacy group FIRE, said Hawkins, though tenured, likely does not have any legal recourse she can take against Wheaton.

"Private institutions, being private institutions, have the right under the freedom of association to restrict themselves to like-minded individuals," Harris said. "What a case like this illustrates is that, particularly when it comes to private colleges, students and faculty need to take a close look and think about what a school thinks about free speech and what the implications of that may mean."

The move by the college prompted dozens of students, who are in the middle of final exams for the semester, to hold a "sit-in" at the college's administrative building and call on college President Philip Ryken and Provost Stan Jones to reverse their decision.

John Schmalzbauer, a 1990 graduate of Wheaton College who is a religious studies professor at Missouri State University, said the school's decision was particularly galling because Hawkins' statements were very similar to statements made by one of the school's most famous graduates, Rev. Billy Graham, and other influential Evangelical pastors.

Graham in a 2007 television appearance suggested that God accepts Muslims and followers of other religions. And several high-ranking Wheaton officials were among the signatories of a 2007 Christian-Muslim statement of understanding, which notes Christianity and Islam's "unique devotion to one God, indeed the love of God, as the primary duty of every believer." Three of the Wheaton College officials, including the current provost, later withdrew their support after the statement of understanding was criticized by some preeminent evangelical scholars.

"I think at one end, and I don't think it's at the far end of the spectrum, a pretty sizable (segment) of Evangelical scholars would be comfortable with what she said," said Schmalzbauer, who signed a petition calling for the school to reinstate Hawkins. "Indeed, they have had speakers come to Wheaton College...and really advocate a similar point of view. But there's also really a part of the Evangelical world that thinks this is really risky theologically and confuses categories and so forth."