Our alma mater Wheaton College congratulated Russell Vought on his recent confirmation to the White House Office of Management and Budget ( OMB) and to the Cabinet of President Donald Trump in a Facebook post on February 7. The school had been praying for the alumnus, as the college has done for many other noteworthy members in the past, according to the post, which was straightforward. Given that Wheaton had not released any public statements regarding Vought when he was confirmed in the same place five years ago, we were both amazed and encouraged to see such a place.
But less than 24 hours later, after a slew of furious responses and criticism from left-wing students, the school caved to public force, deleted the article, and issued an apology.
Who is Russ Vought, and what would fast for a cruel effect? Vought has spent his career in public assistance having graduated from Wheaton in 1998 and having received a J. D. from George Washington University Law School. Even when he was unhappy, he has steadfastly defended biblical principles like the sanctity of life and marriage, and he has continued to be a church-goer.
These appears have never come without a price, and unfortunately, one was in defence of Wheaton.
Defending a Firing
Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., berated Vought for expressing what has been accepted Christian doctrine for a long time: that believing in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation during his 2017 Senate confirmation hearings for the position of assistant director of OMB during President Trump’s first name.
Syllabus had drawn controversy for publicly defending Wheaton’s decision to suspend a faculty member for saying that Muslims and Christians “worship the same God,” a claim that was incompatible with the university’s statement of faith.
Sanders resisted casting a ballot in favor of his assurance, claiming that Vought was “really never one this nation is supposed to be about” and immediately criticizing his beliefs.
An student who championed it and biblical values on the national level should be applauded by Wheaton rather than belittled.
Pregnancy on Campus
” For Christ and His Kingdom” has long been Wheaton College’s tagline. The school of renowned evangelist Billy Graham, and missionary-martyr Jim Elliot and his wife Elisabeth Elliot, Wheaton’s name carries weight in Christian communities as the” Harvard” of Christian schools.
However, we must wonder if Wheaton has recently lived up to its motto when it comes to convenience and famous.
While bachelor students at Wheaton, we and a handful of different individuals re-started the university’s student pro-life business, Voice for Life, which had been dormant for a number of years. Given Wheaton’s group contract every student is required to mark, which explicitly states the school’s commitment to “uphold the God-given worth of mortal beings, from conception to death, as the special image-bearers of God” (emphasis added ), we were dismayed by how questionable talking about the evils of abortion was on campus.
One instance of a memorable memory for us as students is the college’s recognition of pro-life activist Ryan Bomberger for his speech,” Black Lives Matter In and Out of the Womb,” which sparked outcry from the student body and resulted in a campus-wide email condemning Ryan for making students feel “unsafe.”
For the first time in two weeks, Voice for Life was privileged to lead the National March for Life in Washington, which the college publicly promoted on their social media accounts. We were shocked to learn this, which gave us hope that Wheaton might be able to courageously uphold biblical values once more. But those hopes have been quickly dashed by this weekend’s events.
Biblical Values
Other instances of Wheaton’s gradual detachment from its values include the addition of new critical race theory classes to its roster, a divisive theory with roots in secular Marxism, and the appointment of a critical race theorist to its faculty in 2018. A 65-year-old plaque honoring Jim Elliot, who was speared to death along with other missionaries by an Ecuadorian tribe, was removed and replaced because it used the word” savage,” a common term when the plaque was commissioned, and the college invited a speaker to campus who gave a profanity-laced, sexually explicit talk on race sponsored by the philosophy department.
We condemn Wheaton as two Wheaton alumni and Christ followers, and we urge them to stand firm in their faith and support alumni who do the same.
In an effort to avoid politics, Wheaton defended its justification for retracting the post, but caving to the mob is precisely what made this political.
If anything, Wheaton should be genuinely proud to have an alumnus who will make a difference in a world that is in need. And since he assumes a position that can be used to advance Christ’s cause and His kingdom, it shouldn’t be content to pray for him.
We are confident that Vought’s faith in Jesus will determine how faithfully he will serve our nation as it has always been. We’ll be praying for him as he uses his position to carry out justice and righteousness, despite the fact that speaking the truth and living it courageously will likely attract more personal criticism.
We sincerely hope Wheaton does the same.
Edie Guy ( ‘ 19 ) and Gabriela Szostak ( ‘ 21 ) are both graduates of Wheaton College.
