Update, February 7, 2016: “Wheaton College and Larycia Hawkins . . . announced tonight [February 6] they are amicably parting ways,” which I presume means they’ve agreed that no lawsuits will be filed. Hawkins had been expected to “go before a faculty panel . . . to defend her comments.”[] She had received support from many faculty,[] alumni professors,[] and other alumni.[] The provost who had initiated the action against Hawkins apologized “for the way he handled the situation.”[]
“[T]his is not a violation of the First Amendment because the college is not a state actor,” writes Jonathan Turley, addressing—as far as I know—a straw person. “It is a religious based institution that has a right to set its own rules based on that faith.”[] Still, a bunch of people are upset because “[t]he evangelical higher education institution Wheaton College has suspended tenured political science professor Larycia Hawkins after she asserted in a Facebook post last week that Muslims and Christians ‘worship the same God.’” It seems that “Hawkins has received much backlash for her ‘same God’ comment from other Christians on social media and on Tuesday, the school released a statement saying that Hawkins was being placed on administrative leave pending a review of the ‘theological implications’ behind her comments.”[] “‘While Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic, we believe there are fundamental differences between the two faiths, including what they teach about God’s revelation to humanity, the nature of God, the path to salvation and the life of prayer,’ Wheaton College said in a statement.”[] Read more →