June 2025
Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends of the College,
As Vice President for Advancement, Vocation, and Alumni Engagement, I lead the delightful endeavor of sharing stories about Wheaton College through our many vibrant channels, including Wheaton magazine, our website, videos and social media posts, and a wide array of advertising. I am pleased today to write the second of our new Wheaton Wavelength newsletters, which will go out four times per year from President Ryken and various members of his senior leadership team.
Below, you will find multiple examples of how we maintain our historic evangelical Christian identity, adhere to our theological commitments, and ensure the enduring value of a Wheaton College degree. I hope you enjoy these items and appreciate that they are just a few of the ways Wheaton pursues its daily mission for Christ and His Kingdom.
Sincerely,
Kirk D. Farney, Ph.D.
Vice President for Advancement, Vocation, and Alumni Engagement
Fall Undergraduate Enrollment Update
In the words of Chief Enrollment Management Officer Silvio Vazquez, “We give thanks and praise to our heavenly Father for His provision of the many wonderful young hearts and minds that will be joining us this fall.” As of June 15, we are expecting a six-year high with more than 600 confirmed first-year and transfer students. We look forward to welcoming them into our Christ-centered campus community!
Wheaton 2025 Commencement
In May, Wheaton launched another wave of graduates equipped to engage in their God-given callings. We invite you to view Trustee Ricky Jenkins’s inspiring address as commencement speaker, during which he called upon the class to “fulfill your ministry” in the words of Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy.
“My prayer for you,” Trustee Jenkins told the Class of 2025, “is that those words that embarked upon Timothy’s heart two thousand years ago would settle in your soul in such a way that for these next forty and fifty and sixty years of your living that you will never forget this edict coming from Heaven to earth: whatever you do, finish well.”
You can watch the entire undergraduate Commencement ceremony here. Trustee Jenkins also carried his inspiring message to the Graduate Commencement ceremonies, which you can watch here.
Art Brown's Foxhole Dream
Speaking to the classes of 1950, 1955, and 1960 at Wheaton’s Alumni Weekend Heritage Dinner in May, Rev. Art Brown ’50 shared an extraordinary story about his experiences serving in Italy and France during World War II.
Introduced by Math Professor Emeritus Dr. Bob Brabanec ’60, Rev. Brown, now 101 years old, captivated everyone with his humble story of surviving months of combat while hanging onto his “Foxhole Dream” to return to America and study at Wheaton College, which he did with the help of the new G.I. Bill. He later served as pastor for the Western Springs Baptist Church, located in Western Springs, IL, from 1967 until he retired in 1989. Fellow Wheaton graduate Billy Graham had served as pastor of the church in 1943. We are sincerely honored to share Art Brown’s story here with you. A special thank you to Marilee Melvin ’72 for capturing this special audio recording.
Talking with the President
We continue to turn a long running video series into an audio podcast, “Talking with the President.” Please listen in as Wheaton’s President Philip Ryken and Chaplain Angulus Wilson answer important questions on various topics about the past academic year, including student formation, spiritual life on campus, and Wheaton’s theological commitments.
Chapel Hosts Educator and Speaker Andrea Summers
Three times per week, our student body convenes mid-morning to worship God together. Attending Chapel is one of the many powerful ways that our undergraduate students experience our long-held theological commitments. It is a core part of our Evangelical identity. Gifted educator and speaker Andrea Summers, dean of spiritual formation at Indiana Wesleyan University, honored us by speaking at Special Services in January. We encourage you to view her Jan. 24 message to our students about God’s enduring steadfast love.
Korea Signing
Continuing our work around the globe, we are excited to announce that on June 3 Wheaton College signed a memorandum of agreement with Gospel and City Korea, the Korean branch of the U.S.-based organizations The Gospel Coalition and City to City. The Gospel and City network is an inter-denominational, church-equipping movement comprising more than 80 evangelical churches in South Korea. At the signing were Wheaton College President Philip Ryken, General Secretary of The Gospel Coalition Korea and City to City Korea David Park (pictured above with President Ryken), Senior Director of Public Reading of Scripture Church Alliance Korea Jacob Choi, and Wheaton College Provost Karen Lee.
Wheaton College and Gospel and City Korea will create certificate program courses that will train lay leaders in member churches of the Gospel and City Korea church network. The certificate program, focusing on Bible, Theology, and Leadership, will run for 4 semesters (2 years) and will be taught by a combination of in-person Korean instructors and selected online Wheaton course materials subtitled into Korean. The partnership will offer additional in-person intensive instruction by Wheaton professors during the summer. The first iteration of this joint program will launch in Fall 2025.