Wheaton goes liberal
 

It'll be dancing by the Book
Wheaton College students look for a graceful way to hold first dance in school's 143 years

By Meg McSherry Breslin
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
Published October 24, 2003

The exuberant faces of the Wheaton College (IL) students swing dancing on a suburban dance floor don't give it away, but nothing short of a revolution is about to take place on the quiet evangelical college campus.
Dancing.
Throughout the school's 143-year history, students have been banned from drinking, smoking, gambling and social dancing on and off campus during the school year.
But after years of student pressure to lift the dancing ban, the college administration introduced new guidelines for campus living in February, shocking students with news that an official on-campus dance would be held for the first time in school history this year.
With the big event just weeks away--the date will be announced during the college's family gathering this weekend--Wheaton students are testing out their moves at area dance halls.
But they're far from bumping and grinding. The dance of choice for this group of devoutly Christian students seems to be the old-fashioned swing dance. Many students hope college leaders will follow that interest by selecting swing as the theme for the first dance.
For Wheaton, the new policy represents a monumental turnaround. Just six years ago, the same college president who lifted the ban, Duane Litfin, told the Tribune that most contemporary social dancing was "very sensual ... the kind of thing that doesn't add to the Christian atmosphere on campus."
Wheaton's decision is likely to prompt changes at a number of the 127 members of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, said Bob Andringa, the council president. Already, a number of Christian colleges have ended dancing bans in recent years and others may soon follow suit, he said.
"Wheaton is one of the flagships in Christian higher education, so it always gets more attention," he said.
Until now, Wheaton students were allowed to dance only with members of the same sex or to square dance, as the country-western line dance gave students little or no chance of getting too intimate with the opposite sex. In 1997, a small policy change allowed students and teachers to dance with spouses or relatives at family events.

Dancing at Wheaton?

Surely chocolate milk and ladies wearing pants to class are just around the corner!! ;)



(I can say this - Wheaton was on my short list!)

I think that using "Wheaton" and "liberal" in the same phrase might just make the planet explode, haha.

So wait, you weren't allowed to dance off campus if you were a student, or am I just misreading that? :eek:

I went to high school with a girl who went to Wheaton (I grew up maybe 30 mins away from there), and yes, she was a devout Christian, but even she went to school dances. Geesh.

I feel like I am reading the script for "Footloose: The College Years."

The funniest thing is that I just wrote an article for a newsletter talking about Christian colleges laxing rules in order to attract more students. I specifically referenced Wheaton.

At my school, we had curfew. They've all but done away with it now and I only graduated 3 years ago.

I think you read that correctly. Here at Radford, if you're off campus and are arrested, you are prosectucted once by the city and again by the University for violating whatever policy you broke. (Usually Alcohol.)

My understanding (or, at least how it used to be) is that each student signs a contract that they will not smoke, drink, dance, engage in sexual activity, do drugs, etc on or off campus and is held to that contract while they enrolled at Wheaton. Is that still the case?

No sexual activity? I would shoot myself.

Dude, I don't know if anyone cold really live like that (especially me). I wonder if any of the kids that go there have been driven mad.....

I would definately masturbate more if the real are enforced.

My azz would be bounced outta there in a New York minute!

However, I bet they are not as strict as Liberty University in VA or Bob Jones University in SC

Wow. Even BYU is more liberal and open than this school, and I cut them for being too conservative....

My question is, why would anybody pay money to go there? I think morals and values are very important, but honestly how prepared for the real world could you possibly be after being that sheltered. Crazy.