Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 31

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faculty members earning tenure this year—and five of seven new faculty
hires confirmed in February 2014—are faculty members of color. In a
similar vein, when Sisco started as the director of the OMD in 1988,
Wheaton had 132 students of color enrolled; in fall 2014, there were 481—
comprising just shy of 20 percent of the campus community.
“Far from being satisfied with how far we have come, we need to
renew our long-term effort to increase the ethnic and cultural diversity
of Wheaton College,” President Ryken says. “The reason for this is not
political, but biblical: insofar as possible, we seek to reflect the full diversity
of the people of God as a visible expression of our unity in Christ and an
effective means of preparation to advance the gospel worldwide.”
The College’s Diversity Council, active since 1996, is a group of selected
staff, faculty, and administrators who make recommendations to increase
diversity and conduct open conversations with the President about racial issues.
The Visiting Minority Scholar program has been in place for 15 years, and
has also helped the College better represent the cultural diversity of the body
of Christ.
During Dr. Stan Jones’ 17-year tenure as provost, Wheaton has gone
from having six minority faculty members to 23 today. This is due to
strategic intentionality and strong networking in professional organizations.
“When we’re recruiting faculty that are top professionals in their field, and
fit the evangelical community that Wheaton is, when you add to that that
you are looking for faculty of color, we often run into issues of timing and
availability,” Dr. Jones says. “Through the Visiting Minority Scholar program,
we can hire great people when they are available, and have a cushion of time
to move them into positions as they become available.”

The Journey of Healing
Last year, Shalom Parker realized that carrying bitterness from the past
would only hurt her more. So she applied to be a resident assistant, spent last
summer working as a counselor at HoneyRock, and in her February chapel
address, spoke about learning to forgive.
“I was angry at a group I didn’t know—a nameless crowd,” Shalo