Years ago my professor friend was attracted to Wheaton College, the prestigious Christian evangelical
school in Chicago’s western suburbs.  But he said he could never teach there because he couldn’t sign the
Statement of Responsibilities (SOR), which forbade smoking and drinking by both students and faculty.

    He went on to teach in another place, and the Wheaton ban on drinking, smoking and dancing continued
on.  That is, until last week when the Wheaton administration and board of trustees announced a unanimous
change in policy.

    For the first time in the 143-year history of the evangelical Christian school, maybe best known for being the
alma mater of the Rev. Billy Graham, Wheaton faculty members and graduate students are allowed to drink
alcohol and smoke.

    And Wheaton undergraduate students can dance.  And not just square dance.  In a new Community
Covenant formally unveiled Feb. 17, Wheaton administrators said college sponsored on-campus dances
ask students to refrain from dances “which may be immodest, sinfully erotic, or harmfully violent.”  But they
can dance!

    News media outlets didn’t know what to make of Wheaton’s decision.  PBS featured a Feb. 21 Morning
Edition piece narrated by Bob Edwards that was humorous, but hardly fair.  To listen to Edwards’
commentary, you’d have thought Wheaton students had just bought their first pair of shoes.  That’s certainly
not what U.S. News and World Report has said in giving Wheaton College high ranks for its excellent
academic programs and diverse student body.

    The Community Covenant, which replaces the SOR, is very clear:  “The goal of campus life at Wheaton
College is to live, work, serve and worship together as an educational community centered around the Lord
Jesus Christ.”

    Indeed, in the introduction to the Community Covenant Wheaton President Duane Litfin makes clear that
the largely residential community of 2,800 students remains faithful to the College motto of “Christ and His
Kingdom.”

    Wheaton’s SOR had had a complete review for 30 years, and the trustees, still deeply committed to the
authority of the Bible, admitted they saw huge changes in culture and attitudes among evangelical
Christians.  I’d say so.  We’re a country where the divorce rate among church and non-church people is the
same.  Recently I talked with a local pastor who said he knows Christian university students who smoke
marijuana recreationally.

    Accordingly, the Wheaton College trustees realized that a total rewrite of their SOR was inevitable, and
necessary.

    Ultimately, the trustees decided that adult faculty members and grad students should have the freedom to
choose whether they can smoke or drink alcohol, at least while off-campus.  This does not change the
Community Covenant’s clear standard: “We understand that our calling includes the call to acknowledge the
Lordship of Christ over all of life and thought.”

    While the use of illegal drugs or the abuse of legal drugs is wrong, the trustees saw nowhere in the Bible
where drinking alcohol is prohibited.  “The Bible requires moderation in the use of alcohol, not abstinence,”
the Community Covenant states.

    The abuse of alcohol constitutes our society’s greatest substance abuse problem.  Many Christians avoid
alcohol as a matter of conscience.  Now the Wheaton faculty and grad students will an opportunity to
exercise their freedom responsibly.  The Wheaton Community Covenant says that freedom should be
carried out “carefully, and in Christ-like love.”

    That said, the campus and all Wheaton College-related functions will be alcohol and tobacco free.  Also, all
Wheaton undergraduates must refrain from the use of alcohol or tobacco in all settings.  Faculty members
and graduate students are to “use careful and loving discretion in any use of alcohol”, and to not consume
alcohol in any situation where undergraduates are present.

    While most undergraduates are too young to legally consume alcohol anyway, the chance to have formal
dances on campus has students talking about their formal ball this spring with lots of dancing.

    As Wheaton students talked about dancing, a Feb. 20 Chicago Tribune article talked of some faculty
members heading to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate.  “I’m sure some margaritas were passed around,”
Gary Burge, a professor of New Testament studies was quoted as saying.

    Jesus turned water into choice wine at a wedding party where people already had drunk plenty.  Fine wine
is not diluted grape juice as my New Testament professor actually tried to argue.

    Jesus knew the difference between grape juice and wine.  He knew the difference between a square dance
and a ballroom dancing.  He was not a prude, and neither are the Wheaton College administrators and
students.
 

Don Follis is an Urbana pastor and member of Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Urbana.  His column
appears on Fridays.  Copyright 2003 © by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.