Wheaton College, Along with Others, Getting Spanked For Worldly Ideas



Just a few years ago there was a "house cleaning" at the very, I mean VERY, conservative Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago. I've read there are some fiscal problems at Moody that are being kicked down the road by selling some of its very valuable downtown Chicago property.

Also in the Chicago region is Wheaton College, a stalwart of conservative religion, there are rumblings of liberal drift. Friends and relatives of mine have attended Wheaton. Now, its deep pocket donors are complaining liberal ideas come up in its classrooms and are not properly shut down. Complaints are coming in from alums, former students and donors. Wheaton's enrollment has been slowly declining.

Put yourself in the shoes of a President of these or any other of the many conservative Christian higher ed places. Student enrollment is down and projections are gloomy. Several small colleges each year close or merge and try to stay afloat. Among many if your challenges is keeping faculty. To complicate things, you hear a few of your most popular professors say or do things conservative students do not like. Students tell their parents who then complain. Neither these students nor their parents have to keep the doors open. They can complain from the back bench.

Christian colleges are having the same problems as Christian churches. The brand does not sell like it once did. Some adjustments need to be made to keep the faith and these colleges part of the modern world.

Into the 1970's, Concordia University in Moorhead, MN did not allow ballroom dancing. Then it changed its policy and dancing became a popular thing on campus. I recall listening to the car radio late one night when a caller on conservative talk radio called to complain about Concordia's slipping into the hands of Satan with ballroom dancing. 

Christian higher ed faces the same problems of as other higher ed, plus some that are even worse.  

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