Wheaton goes liberal

[hoosier]

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.