Despite Wheaton College’s attempts to quiet a backlash from alumni over its pro forma congratulatory message recognizing alumnus and newly confirmed White House official Russell Vought, the actions of the “deliberately non-partisan” evangelical Christian school have only brought more controversy.
After Wheaton posted its Feb. 7 statement asking for prayers for Vought, alumni and others answered on social media, objecting to Vought’s work as an architect of Project 2025, the proposed agenda for a second Trump administration, and as a past and current White House director of the Office of Management and Budget. Wheaton soon withdrew its statement, saying the flap had rendered its congratulations more political than it intended.
On Feb. 10, an carta abierta signed by hundreds of alumni appeared, calling Vought’s positions “antithetical to Christian charity.” The signers, including alumni who are on the faculty at New York University and Baylor University, agreed to “publicly distance” themselves from Vought’s work and “reaffirm our commitment to the Gospel’s radical call to justice, mercy, and humility.”
On Monday (Feb. 17), a second alumni letter appeared, accusing the college of stifling conservative viewpoints, capitulating to “the spirit of our age” and upholding a “DEI regime.” It concludes with a list of demands, including that the college audit “every single faculty and staff member’s commitment to the Statement of Faith and Community Covenant.”
While the clash of alumni can’t be tidily summarized as a division between progressives and conservatives — plenty of conservative Christians oppose recent actions by the Trump administration — the dueling Wheaton letters mirror a larger clash between the Christian values invoked by President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members and those of religious groups at odds with the administration’s humanitarian aid freeze, halting of the U.S. refugee program and decision to permit law enforcement officials to raid houses of worship in search of migrants.
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The competing letters also expose the larger fault lines in evangelical Christianity. While earlier dustups at U.S. Christian colleges pointed to a growing rift over culture war disputes, the incident at Wheaton, one of the most influential Christian colleges in the nation, drew defenses of Vought and Trump from the likes of franklin graham, the head of Samaritan’s Purse whose father, Billy Graham, attended the school, and evangelical radio host Eric Metaxas.
Graham pronounced himself “shocked” when, hours after Wheaton’s congratulatory Feb. 7 post, alumni — whom Graham dismissed as “leftist Trump-haters” — answered with a flurry of comments claiming that Vought contradicts the Christian values the school promotes.
“The work that he is doing negatively and directly impacts countless other Wheaton alum who are seeking to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this country and around the rest of the world,” one commenter wrote. Several condemned Vought for backing the freezing of foreign aid and shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which protects consumers from predatory practices.
A day after sharing the post, Wheaton deleted it, diciendo: “It was not our intention to embroil the College in a political discussion or dispute.” Later, it released a statement calling the comments on the post “primarily incendiary” and “unchristian,” and clarifying that the deletion of the initial post was “in no way an apology for having expressed congratulations or for suggesting prayer for our alumnus.”
Wheaton did not provide new information in response to questions from RNS.
Wheaton’s pivot, however, only further ensnared the school in debate. The second letter, which has been signed by more than 740 students and alumni and 270 other stakeholders, does not name Vought or Project 2025 explicitly, but criticizes Wheaton, which its says “has repeatedly capitulated to the spirit of our age—placating bad actors while sidelining those who bear a more faithful witness.”
It goes on to accuse Wheaton of “mission drift,” citing “the relentless centering of race and the elevation of voices who promote unbiblical pedagogies, like critical theory,” and “the general tendency to stifle those who bring conservative viewpoints.” It also says the school has appropriated “LGBT terminology and identities.”
In 2019, Wheaton’s board approved a commitment to “Christ-Centered Diversity,” which included pledges to recruit students and employees from underrepresented groups. Last year, the school restricted employees’ ability to designate personal pronouns, including “they/them” pronouns, though the policy did not apply to students.
The second letter also points to a growing acceptance rate at Wheaton, which the writers claim jumped from 66% in 2012 to 88% in 2024, saying it is eroding the college’s standards.
“Wheaton is a symbol,” Eric Teetsel, a Wheaton alumnus who replaced Vought as the head of the Center for Renewing America, told The New Yorker. “It’s bigger than just an institution. It is, and has been, the banner of evangelical higher education … Even people who didn’t go there recognize that if a place like Wheaton can succumb to the same story that Harvard University and Princeton University and Yale and so many other schools that started with an explicitly faith-based mission and succumb to the world—if that can happen at Wheaton, we’ve lost something bigger than just Wheaton.”
John Hawthorne, a retired sociologist who studies religion, politics and higher education and is author of “The Fearless Christian University,” said Wheaton’s difficult week reminds him of the 2021 clash at Grove City College, another Christian school whose faculty, students and alumni debated in a series of open letters whether the school had succumbed to “mission drift” from its traditional values.
Such conflicts, Hawthorne told RNS, will be unavoidable for many Christian colleges, especially given the disparate responses to Trump’s executive actions and the vulnerability and volatility of the social media age.
“An institution that hasn’t thought about how to position itself with confidence is going to be reactionary all the time. … As this illustrates, there’s no way you can please all the constituents,” said Hawthorne. “It’s better for the university to be able to speak to (their) values than for various constituent groups to call them out, telling them what their values ought to be.”
Kathryn Post is a reporter for Religion News Service based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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14 Responses
The Trump Administration is both embarrassing and dangerous.
With all the abusive statements from Trump and his lieutenant Russell Vought, it reveals how unethical and void of integrity this administration has become. The response From Wheaton College is … congratulations. I realize 82% of White Evangelicals voted for Trump and are totally responsible for Trump’s election, but I had hoped some Christian colleges would have raised serious questions in opposition. But instead, it is one of total support, Wheaton College along with the evangelical movement in the U.S. has lost it way ….. I no longer look to Wheaton and its staff for any moral guidance of any kind and its lack of a moral ethical framework……
One would argue that everyone is scared of Trump, and they would be correct…. just a lack of courage….
-Canada should be a 51st State
-We are taking the Panama Canal
-We want Greenland
-2 million Palestinians should be removed from Gaza
-Betrayal of Ukraine
70% of Americans support President Trump and his Administration and what they are getting done. Those with positions like Mr. Jansma are in the minority and without a Democrat leader. Americans are scared of the Dems and why elected President Trump to Save America and #MakeAmericaGreatAgain.
Most U.S. Evangelicals will probably be happy when War-Criminal Putin visits the White House. Perhaps Franklin Graham, Paula White-Cain and other leading Evangelicals can pray over Putin and Trump when the two meet. It is pretty certain not one one peep of criticism will come from the large majority of U.S. White Evangelicals.
Your math ain’t mathing. Please give us the source for 70% support Trump. Remember, more people did not vote in the last election than voted for either Trump or Harris.
“Wheaton soon withdrew its statement, saying the flap had rendered its congratulations more political than it intended.”
Unfortunately, they rendered their congratulations more political than they intended precisely because they withdrew the statement. Blowing in the wind comes to mind…
I found out relatively recently Kari LakeI graduated from the same university. Now, that’s embarrassing! GO HAWKS!
I encourage you to check out the forwheaton.org website to see the conservative response to the current Wheaton College flap. The main online article is well-written, but be sure also to read the comments left by alumni and parents about their first-hand experiences at the school. This Vought debate is just the latest in a long series of capitulations by the administration; the school has been drifting leftward both politically and theologically for many years. The petition now has close to 2000 signatories.
YHWH made a Covenant Promise to Yasharal (aka: Israel) long ago and re-emphasized it in Micah 5:5 – AND THIS HAPPENED and is happening: “And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him 7 shepherds and 8 principal men!”
We are permitted to rejoice and congratulate, when we declare YHWH’s Word and see It, Him, come to pass just as He promised. He Yahshua haMashiach does not lie. 7 shepherds : 8 principal men: YEAH – HALLELUYAHSHUA
I truly don’t know if there’s a way to untangle political and church ties anymore. No matter what is said or done, it ends up politicized. I’ve seen the statement “God is love” turn into a political debate.
This is reflective of idolatry and divisiveness – our first inclinations to run to our political tribes, seek confirmation that the political party we prefer is “right”, or to cast someone we disagree with as “one of THEM” (complete with exaggerated labels), all while being defensive over if anyone ever dares to label us.
These core sins of idolatry and divisiveness are tearing us apart.
(Waiting for replies full of justifications of these sins).
Until our first inclination is to run to Him versus whoever we voted for or whoever voted like us….to seek Him versus seeking being right…this will continue.
Lord help us.
More than 1500 Wheaton alumni have signed a letter expressing concern over Russell Vought’s role in Project 2025 and the policies it espouses. It’s interesting to compare the tone of these two letters. One asks for careful consideration; the other appears to threaten hostile action.
For reference, the open letter of alumni expressing concern over Vought and his policies is online at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-SNnyD4xkhb9eL81yI_l6WNHuFT8FunywIWyJnWe5L4/edit?fbclid=IwY2xjawIp_KRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHV0xbpPW_Qh9-q1Z19nQlCjqOIuQHF-vn6gONI_oj6gynzKYrY26NjjdXQ_aem_0ZPsqPMACGDHdeBt2SagXA&tab=t.0
Andrea Herling,
Thanks for posting the letter “expressing concern over Vought and his policies.”
By doing so, you have provided a great illustration of the decline at Wheaton College and why it is now drifting into anti-Biblical heresy.
Here is the gist of the problem, as voiced in the letter opposing Vought:
“As Wheaton graduates, we were shaped by an education grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which states that the Kingdom of Heaven is known by the Fruit of the Spirit and made manifest by feeding the hungry, giving the stranger a place to sleep, clothing the naked, and caring for the sick.”
If those who signed the letter truly believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about meeting physical needs, they are truly lost.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is stated in this Bible verse and is crystal clear:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
It’s all about the forgiveness of sins. It’s all about Jesus shedding his blood. It’s all about repentance.
The “Social Gospel” cannot replace what Jesus did and what it means to be transformed from the inside out. It cannot replace Salvation.
This is a “yes/and” not “either/or” argument. We as believers aren’t to choose between meeting spiritual OR physical needs (and I didn’t read the letter that way). We are to meet both.
There are verses that speak to how we are to meet the needs of the needy – we even see verses that show how ignoring those in need is an offense to God, or how only praying for someone while doing nothing about their physical needs is uncaring. See Matthew 25:45 or James 2:15-16.
What sets us apart from secular charities is that we meet BOTH the needs of the spirit AND body. Let’s not imply the latter are to be ignored or that those who meet the needs of the body are “truly lost.”
The true church/christian is salt and light to the World sharing the gospel truth and preserving from evil. Trump uses religion, but has abominable character(Pr.6:16-17) and exemplify a fascist dictator, who controls the police, suppress the press, create enemies (Canada and others), use propaganda, cult personality to indoctrinate in racist nationalism, attracts the wealthy, radical religious self-righteous, suppress dissent, demand absolute loyalty, and ask for unchecked power. Donald wants power. Christian! Not God’s man! The lawless one. Christians, there is a great need for ”discernment”, shed the light of the gospel to the lost, delusional religious or pagans. Christ came to save sinners, not righteous (Mat 9:13). The last thing to do is to nod and agree at this ruler’s ethic and bullying. The church has to stand up vocally and resist the false religion illusion present at the white House
Wow! Each of these comments have merit yet seem to mirror the division raining down on America in these times. Its truly a mystery how intelligent, articulate, and Christ-honoring people representing these views could have such widely opposing opinions about the same person, Donald Trump, and members of his administration like Russell Vought. Vertically, it seems like we all ascribe to be followers of our Lord Jesus, yet horizontally, we don’t see ourselves as brothers and sisters joined by that love for Him. Just as the family unit in society has been broken up over these past several decades, now the one spiritual family, the Church, that was supposed to face every battle together, is turning its swords on one another. Believers are shooting their brothers. The ‘world’ is dividing us. Reforming the nation has taken precedence over reforming souls for Christ. Do Christians in America want a President or a Messiah?
Isn’t that what Judas wanted most – to see Jesus as a political Messiah on the throne of Israel, eager to crush Roman rule and restore the nations to its former glory? No doubt we all want to see an end to sin in the nation, but is this current form of Christian nationalism how it is to be done?