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Larycia Hawkins & Wheaton Parts Ways; A Catholic University Should Hire Her

Larycia Hawkins & Wheaton Parts Ways; A Catholic University Should Hire Her

Last updated on: February 9, 2016 at 1:21 am by Artur Rosman

Larycia Hawkins & Wheaton Parts Ways; A Catholic University Should Hire Her 2016-02-09T01:21:32-07:00 Artur Rosman

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(Source: Wiki Commons; Author: Mdiaz1436; Title: Dr. Larycia Hawkins Speaking at press conference. 1/06/2016; CC by 4.0)

There are plenty of good reasons for Catholic universities to hire Professor Larycia Hawkins who parted ways with Wheaton a couple of days ago.

Yesterday, somewhere between Tacoma and Seattle, I heard on the radio that Wheaton College parted ways with political science professor Larycia Hawkins. I assumed the young no-longer-tenured professor from the “Harvard of the evangelical schools” is now back on the unpredictable academic job market. The stumbling block between the scholar and the Christian institution of higher learning was the former quoting Pope Francis correctly saying that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

The ultimate general reader resource on Christian-Muslim dialogue.

This is an unfortunate situation, because Wheaton deserves its reputation academically as a kind of Harvard of Christian schools. There are too many top-notch scholars there to list. Wheaton’s PR department bungled things as badly as Russell Wilson not handing off to Marshawn Lynch at the goal-line during Super Bowl XLIX. This inevitably led some talking heads to portray Wheaton as an Evangelical intellectual torture chamber when nothing is further from the truth. You’d think that Wheaton is on par with Bob Jones University. If you can’t tell the difference, then no amount of proof I might muster will deter you from your ignorance.

Even though the college and Hawkins have decided to part ways we are nowhere close to the end of the story. Nobody is getting fired, but neither is Hawkins staying on. She has decided to move on. It is worrisome that there might be substance to the sexism and racism accusations leveled in a public statement made by a professor at the college. As the Washington Post reports, Wheaton’s president, Phillip Ryken, intends to submit the institution to some searching self-scrutiny about these accusations:

“Because concerns have been raised about many aspects of this complex situation—including concerns related to academic freedom, due process, the leaking of confidential information, possible violations of faculty governance, and gender and racial discrimination—I have asked the Board of Trustees to conduct a thorough review,” Ryken said in his email.

Such a reconciliation process would reflect the demanding spirit of the university’s heritage. If this is to be more than a “conscious uncoupling,” then Wheaton will have to save face by losing face. I hope they go through with it openly.

On the other hand, I’m much more worried about Professor Hawkins. I am familiar with both the unintended consequences of social media posts and the vicissitudes of the academic job market. I generally describe both as a game of Russian roulette where the gun chamber holds a 100 bullets. However, there’s a twist, 99 chambers contain bullets, whereas only one is empty. Therefore, given the odds, you’re, much more often than not, likely to shoot yourself in the head whenever you get engaged with either.

Ultimately, what I’d like to see is a Catholic university to step in and give Professor Hawkins a job. I believe Catholic institutions are obligated to do so, because of the following reasons:

1. Professor Hawkins leaned upon the authority of Pope Francis for her statement about Christians worshiping the same God as Muslims. Giving her a job would be a defense of sound theology.

2. The “same God” position is truly a Catholic position. Yet, most Catholics are ignorant of it. It only makes sense for a Catholic institution to hire someone who bravely stuck out her neck defending it in ways that most Catholics wouldn’t.

The Catholic history is truly complicated.

3. Headscarves at Mass are making a comeback with so-called “traditional” Catholics. These tend to be the same Catholics who tend to demonize Muslims. A hijab-wearing professor would challenge them to think about uncomfortable commonalities with those whom they perceive as their enemies.

4. Jesuit universities are geared toward witnessing through social justice that challenge both the lives of their mostly affluent student bodies and the sensibilities of Catholic Neo-Cons. Those same universities have a consistency problem. They have not made amends to African-Americans for directly relying upon slave labor to sustain themselves early in their histories. For example, according to Ulrich Lehner’s new book, Georgetown University was almost totally dependent upon slave labor to sustain itself, as were most of the other American Jesuit universities. This is something Catholics should remember and atone for during Black History month. The rest of American Black Catholic history isn’t exactly a bed of roses either.

5. From a pragmatic angle, Catholics in the United States are constantly in need of good press. What could be a happier story, than a Catholic university picking up a professor who has shown backbone in a showdown that ultimately cost her tenure for quoting Pope Francis? What’s more, I suspect Professor Hawkins would thrive in the much more catholic (small “C”) atmosphere of a Catholic college. Who knows, maybe she would even eventually come to engage it? I suppose this might be called the New Evangelization angle.

Let’s pray for eucatastrophe.
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For more in-depth coverage of this story please see: Wheaton Professor Claims White Privilege & Sexism Are Behind Larycia Hawkins Controversy.
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