Words: Cassidy Keenan ’21
Photo: Michael Wilder, Ph.D.
A crane sets the massive pre-cast concrete panels that will form the Concert Hall at Armerding Center for Music and the Arts.
Wheaton College is in the midst of its Faithfully Forward campaign. With plans for a renovated library, expanded athletics facilities, and the provision of scholarships for students, this is an exciting moment in the College’s history. Alumni, donors, trustees, college leadership, faculty, staff, and more are all working together to strive toward a brighter future for Wheaton students.
But this is far from the first movement of Christ-
centered generosity that the College has experienced. Before there was Faithfully Forward, there was From the Heart, For the Kingdom.
Wheaton’s last major capital campaign launched over a decade ago. With an ambitious goal of $175 million raised to meet the changing needs of the 21st century while remaining rooted in its Christ-centered commitments, the Wheaton community set out on a journey to make a Wheaton College education more “Remarkable, Relevant, and Reachable.”
Kirk Farney M.A. ’98, Vice President of Advancement, Vocation, and Alumni Engagement, recalls those years not through dollars raised or flights across the country (of which there were many), but through the relationships the College built and stewarded. When asked, he painted a picture of communal dinners, everyone gathered around the table—himself and President Ryken, faculty and students, alumni, donors—to unite behind a common mission. He described rooms of relaxation, conversations, questions, and connections. This “quiet” portion of the campaign eventually expanded into major campaign events on campus and all across the country, culminating in a remarkable $187 million raised from alumni and donors, $12 million more than their goal.
Some of the effects of this generosity are invisible. The updated Christ at the Core curriculum—long planned but financially supported by the campaign—instills integrated, holistic liberal arts excellence in new generations of thinkers. Deepening ethnic diversity reflects the richness of God’s kingdom on campus. Need-based scholarships make a Wheaton education accessible for students of all economic backgrounds.
But some of the effects are visible. Generous donors left legacies that changed the very landscape of the campus. From the Heart, For the Kingdom funded three major construction projects that benefit students today: the Center for Vocation and Career, the Armerding Center for Music and the Arts, and the Melvin E. Banks, Sr. Welcome Center.
Take a look inside each one.
The open and naturally lit CVC is located centrally on campus on the main floor of the Student Services Building. Past the glass doors are open study spaces with tables and comfortable chairs filled with half a dozen convivial students chatting or studying. Soft music plays over the speakers. There is a counter stocked with snacks and drinks. At a tall table in the corner, student workers sit with nametags, warm smiles, and a sign that reads Ask Me Anything.
So how did this office get here?
The answer starts with the Leadership Council. The catalyst for the development of the council came from Dan Johnson ’78, former economics major and founder and CEO of his own company, who raised the concern that Wheaton students could be better equipped with skills to succeed in the workplace. Johnson looked around—at himself, at his sphere of influence, at fellow alumni—and asked, “What can be done?”
The Leadership Council was the result. Twice a year, a group of alumni from around the country from multiple disciplines and industries came to campus to speak in classrooms, offer themselves as mentors, and give updates from their industry to prepare current students for the workforce. They brought in College leadership, as well as leaders in the Alumni and Parent Engagement Office.
One of the crucial figures in developing the new vision for the CVC was Cindra Stackhouse Taetzsch ’82. Stackhouse Taetzsch served for over 20 years in multiple capacities at Wheaton before retiring in 2026, including as Chief Alumni Officer and Executive Director of the Wheaton College Alumni Association. She recalls those early Leadership Council meetings with fierce admiration. “I loved their passion,” she said. “I loved their vision for how we could do better.” Farney, who was hired in 2014, also brought an advocacy for the importance of vocation in a Christ-centered Wheaton education, and was eager to demonstrate institutional value for the work of the CVC. With approval from the President and the Senior Administrative Cabinet, Stackhouse Taetzsch and Farney got to work conducting best practice research from the top liberal arts career centers in the country.
Stackhouse Taetzsch dug deep into annual reports and campus tours in her formal recommendations for the College, and the research was clear. The existing CVC, which was then tucked away in a corner on the second floor of the Student Services Building, needed to be reimagined if it was going to prepare students for post-Wheaton success.
Stackhouse Taetzsch still recalls the characteristics that she had deemed most essential in her report, nearly all of which are evident in the space today. “Somewhere in the center of campus,” she said. “Floor-to-ceiling glass. A high student traffic area. Not just in the center of campus for convenience, but to demonstrate the College’s commitment to career preparation.”
With these recommendations, and the advocacy and concern of passionate alumni behind her, CVC renovations became one of the major priorities in the From the Heart, For the Kingdom campaign. Donors rose to the occasion so remarkably that the College was able to make these dreams a reality.
CVC Director Olivia Zimmerman Lorimer ’11 described the project as “a love letter to current students from alumni.” One of her favorite memories of this time was the launch party for the new CVC space. “It was absolutely packed with people, with donors, with colleagues, faculty, staff, students,” she said. “I know there were several donors [in attendance] who had made significant gifts and contributions. Just to get to see them walk through the space and see what that meant to them was really cool.”
More than six years later, the impact of all those legacies—belonging to Dan Johnson and Cindra Stackhouse Taetzsch and Olivia Zimmerman Lorimer and every other passionate alumna or alumnus who contributed along the way—is felt by current students every day. The contributions from the campaign created a visually striking office in the heart of campus, significantly increasing student foot traffic and engagement. They expanded the staff, hiring more professionals to equip students for the workforce. They enhanced resources so that staff members can speak in classrooms, host major events for students, and offer interview rooms or quiet spaces for coaching appointments.
“I really believe in the work that we do,” Lorimer said. “I think Wheaton students are some of the best and the brightest. And coming alongside them as they are launching into a world that desperately needs Jesus . . . it truly is
a privilege.”
The push to renovate the Conservatory came from several sources, including accreditation visits, faculty and student feedback, and the simple recognition that the excellence of the Wheaton music program was beginning to far outstrip its facilities. And once again, alumni and donors saw the importance and took action to provide Wheaton students with something better.
Armerding’s main lobby is suffused with sunlight and tasteful artwork, with a glass walkway spanning the space between the concert hall and the second-floor classrooms. Before the renovation, there were no common areas for students to gather informally. Now, there are couches and seating areas throughout the building to encourage creative collaboration. The building has mirror-lined dance studios and comfortable, fully-equipped practice rooms. Finally, the Concert and Recital halls: gleaming stages in acoustically exceptional rooms that, even when empty, feel bright with anticipation. Offering some of the finest technical sound quality in the Chicago region, the Concert Hall is home to a bespoke 3-manual, 38-stop pipe organ, built by Taylor & Boody Organbuilders of Staunton, Virginia. Used to accompany choirs and instrumental musicians, as well as to train students, its main purpose is to lead and accompany congregational hymn singing.
“We had three priorities, and we used this rank ordering to make almost all the decisions we made,” said Dr. Michael Wilder, Dean of the Conservatory of Music and of the Arts and Communication Division. “One, what does it sound like? Two, how can it function really well for its purpose, be that teaching or rehearsal or whatever happens in these spaces? And then number three, what’s the thing look like?”
Creating a building with acoustics as the first priority meant that the architecture was designed with sound absorption, reflection, diffusion, and isolation in mind. Choral practice rooms were built so that musical ensembles no longer had to travel off campus to rehearse. Any extra money was allocated first and foremost not for features that improved how the building looked, but how it sounded. This careful planning is exemplified in the strategic design of the practice rooms. Each room has a 12 percent sound release, providing noise-proofing between rooms but still allowing for music to be heard in the hallway.
“We had no building on campus that was built specifically for performance of music,” explained Dr. Mary Hopper ’73, who served for decades as a Professor of Choral Music and Director of Performance Studies at the College, as well as directing the Women’s Chorale and Men’s Glee Club ensembles. The construction of Armerding Hall, with so much love and attention poured into the acoustics, changed everything.
Wilder recalled the day students entered the new building for the first time. “That day, we invited them to join in a parade from McAlister,” he remembered. “When we opened the door, they ran through this front hall. It was such an incredible Christmas-morning kind of experience for all of us.” He described how students, faculty, staff, and more gathered in the Recital Hall to dedicate the space through music, but when he tried to explain the experience of everyone singing in the hall together for the first time, words seemed to fail him, except to say, “There wasn’t a dry eye in there.”
Wilder also celebrated the impact of the campaign for music on a broader scope. “This college has been committed since 1860 to musical flourishing and its connection to spiritual flourishing,” he said. “There is no question in Scripture that God intends for us to flourish as music makers.”
While the previous two facilities were improved or renovated, the Melvin E. Banks, Sr. Welcome Center was built entirely from scratch. Like the CVC, the former Admissions Office was tucked away on the second floor of the Student Services Building. When prospective parents or students came to campus, they were often unsure where to go, sometimes finding the right place after searching, sometimes walking into Blanchard by mistake.
Now, the Welcome Center stands proudly in the circle drive at the front of campus. The stone exterior and copper trim blends beautifully with other iconic campus landmarks such as Blanchard Hall and the Wade Center.
Inside, the Great Hall opens into warm wood arches, high ceilings, murals and exhibits of Wheaton’s history, and comfortable chairs everywhere in sight. The Wheaton crest is emblazoned in stone over a large fireplace. A smiling face is waiting to help behind the desk, ready to field questions or direct guests to the fully stocked beverage station. As the Conservatory was the first building on campus to be designed specifically for music, it’s clear these walls were designed for hospitality.
Every week, the various conference rooms and chairs and tables are filled with teams—senior leadership, undergraduate admissions, counselors, hospitality, and others—to brainstorm and work toward what Silvio Vazquez, Chief Enrollment Management Officer, sees as the primary role for the Welcome Center. “I think the overwhelming purpose of this was to say to prospective students and families, ‘When you walk into this building, you’re getting a foretaste of what we see as critical in your college search process,” Vazquez said. He explained how every campus tour begins and ends at the Center, how crucial discernment conversations have been had around the fireplace or in those chairs, how all the teams that meet in that building pray over each and every prospective student.
“When you read the stories that our students come with, and their reasons for wanting to be here, it’s inspiring,” Vazquez said. “And some of the stories are extremely challenging. We recognize that we have a sacred duty to walk with the students who come here. What a blessing to have alumni friends believe in the mission of the College, and our ability to stay faithful to that. It encourages us to keep on doing the hard work.”
“The generosity of Wheaton donors continues to amaze and inspire me,” Farney said. “Their missional commitment will generate immeasurable benefits for our students, faculty, and broader campus community, for generations to come. It is our humble duty to steward such resources in order to maximize their impact ‘For Christ and His Kingdom.’ To say that we are grateful is an understatement.”
