“Reinstate Professor Hawkins”: Read open letter by political scientists from Wheaton College

The Larycia Hawkins controversy has produced more heat than light. See what this unique group of alumni has to say.

Blanchard Hall at Wheaton College (Illinois). Photo by RyanSuh31 via Flickr Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhsuh31/9074184609

A group of twenty political scientists who graduated from Wheaton College (Illinois) wrote an open letter to the president and board of trustees of their alma mater. The alumni are supporting political science professor Larycia Hawkins, who has been placed on leave and is facing termination for cause. Written by alumni who are in the field of political science (including myself), the letter provides a unique take on the controversy. 

Blanchard Hall at Wheaton College (Illinois). Photo by RyanSuh31 via Flickr Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhsuh31/9074184609

Blanchard Hall at Wheaton College (Illinois). Photo by RyanSuh31 via Flickr Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanhsuh31/9074184609


February 3, 2016


Dear President Ryken and the Wheaton College Board of Trustees:

We write to you as graduates of Wheaton College who are now professors of political science.* We are proud of the education we received at Wheaton. In particular, we are thankful for the outstanding faculty of Wheaton’s Department of Politics and International Relations who prepared us for our vocations in political science. We are saddened by the events regarding Professor Larycia Hawkins. We offer our insights as alumni in the field of political science in the hope of encouraging reconciliation.

We are political scientists and, as such, we have an interest in protecting due process and academic freedom. We have followed the events of the past six weeks as closely as we can from afar. While we cannot presume to know all of the details, we share the Wheaton College Faculty Council’s “grave concerns about the process.” Disciplinary procedures against tenured faculty members should be guided by established rules and procedures. This commitment to due process should be the strongest when it affects academic freedom. Political science faculty are often required as part of their job to provide scholarly insights on controversial matters to their students, their communities, and their colleges/universities. We agree with the American Political Science Association that Professor Hawkins’ public statements “cannot be separated from her scholarly focus on religion and politics.” We strongly recommend that Wheaton College reinstate Professor Hawkins and work toward reconciliation if there have been violations of due process or an infringement of her academic freedom.

We are very concerned about the harm to Professor Hawkins and the potential for further damage. Administrative leave of a tenured professor should be avoided except in extreme cases. Being placed on leave often damages the reputation of a professor, both at her home institution and in her professional field. If, as Wheaton College appears to indicate, Professor Hawkins was placed on leave before a review, then Professor Hawkins’ leave would likely be irregular and prejudicial. We are saddened by the recommendation for termination with tenure, as this is usually a career-ending punishment. After years of graduate education and nearly a decade at Wheaton College that included earning tenure at the College, Professor Hawkins now faces the most severe punishment in our profession. As her colleagues in the field, we encourage Wheaton College to welcome efforts toward reconciliation rather than continue down the current path.

As professors, we fear that Wheaton College is hampering its ability to attract first-rate professors who make “excellence in the liberal arts” possible. To attract and retain the best professors, Wheaton College must have a reputation as a place that respects the basic rights of faculty and nurtures its faculty. What is more, because Professor Hawkins is the first African American woman tenured at Wheaton College the actions taken against Professor Hawkins will raise questions about how Wheaton College treats minority and female professors. Public reports of administrative control of faculty speech and differential treatment will be taken as a warning to high-quality candidates. A willingness to slow down and work collaboratively will do much to restore Wheaton College’s reputation.

We are also greatly concerned about the effect this incident will have on Wheaton College graduates pursuing an academic vocation. There have always been some in higher education who hold unfair stereotypes of Christian colleges. The Department of Politics and International Relations at Wheaton College, however, has established a well-earned reputation within political science as a place that produces serious scholars who are well prepared for graduate study. In light of the American Political Science Association’s letter to Wheaton College denouncing the treatment of Professor Hawkins, however, there is now good reason to believe that Wheaton graduates applying to graduate school and to academic jobs will be judged as less-qualified or less-serious scholars simply because of the damage Wheaton is making to its own reputation within the field. We hope that a change in course will help demonstrate Wheaton College’s commitment to quality education.

We implore Wheaton College to find a way to allow Professor Hawkins to continue her service to the college and its students as a tenured professor. We believe that a good first step will be to reinstate Professor Hawkins and suspend the termination process so that everyone can work toward a common goal of reconciliation.

* Those who are not professors in political science departments received doctorates in political science (or in closely-related fields); graduated from Wheaton College as political science majors; and/or study politics as part of their research and teaching.

Signed,

Alumni are listed by class year. Each person signs as an individual; organizations are listed for identification only and do not imply organization endorsement.


Brent Nelsen, ’81
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Professor of Political Science, Furman University
Chair of the South Carolina Educational Television Commission
Member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Corporation for Public Broadcasting

David E. Dixon, ’85
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Notre Dame
Chair and Professor of Political Science, California State University, Dominguez Hills

James M. Scott , ’86
Ph.D. Political Science, Northern Illinois University
Herman Brown Chair and Professor of Political Science, Texas Christian University
Co-editor of Political Research Quarterly

Robert Woodberry, ’87
Ph.D. Sociology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Associate Professor of Political Science, National University of Singapore
Senior Research Professor, ISR, Baylor University
Director, Project on Religion and Economic Change

Linda M. Beail, ’90
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Iowa
Professor of Political Science and Director of the Margaret Stevenson Center for Women’s Studies, Point Loma Nazarene University

Fay Botham, ’90
Ph.D. in Religion from Claremont Graduate University
Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges


Neil Carlson, 90
Ph.D. Political Science, Duke University
Director, Center for Social Research, Calvin College

John Schmalzbauer, ’90
Ph.D., Sociology, Princeton University
Blanche Gorman Strong Chair in Protestant Studies and Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Missouri State University

Joan M. Blauwkamp, ’92
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Iowa
Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska – Kearney

Loramy (Mimi) Gerstbauer, ’93
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Notre Dame
Associate Professor of Political Science, Gustavus Adolphus College

Leah Seppanen Anderson, ‘95
Ph.D. Political Science, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Associate Professor and Chair of Politics and International Relations, Wheaton College

Stephen Offutt, ’95
Ph.D. Sociology, Boston University
Assistant Professor of Development Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary


Kimberly Horn Conger, ’96
Ph.D. Political Science, The Ohio State University
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Cincinnati
President of Christians in Political Science

Tobin Grant, ’96
Ph.D., Political Science, The Ohio State University
Professor of Political Science, Southern Illinois University
Co-editor of Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Jana Morgan, ’98
Ph.D., Political Science, University of North Carolina
Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of Tennessee

Nathan Kelly, ’99
Ph.D., Political Science, University of North Carolina
Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Tennessee

Jacob Lesniewski, ’99
Ph.D Social Welfare, University of Chicago
Assistant Professor, Dominican University Graduate School of Social Work
Member, Visiting Committee, Center for Urban Engagement, Wheaton College

Timothy Pachirat, 99
Ph.D. Political Science, Yale University
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst.  


Noah Toly, ’99 MA ’12
Ph.D., Urban Affairs & Public Policy, University of Delaware
Associate Professor of Politics & International Relations, Wheaton College
Director of the Center for Urban Engagement, Wheaton College
Senior Fellow for Global Cities, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Ryan Brasher, ’01
Ph.D., Political Science, Indiana University
Assistant Professor, Forman Christian College, Lahore Pakistan


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