Stand with Professor Hawkins

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Multifaith Sign-On: Stand with Professor Hawkins.

Join me to ask my alma mater, Wheaton College, to reinstate the professor who stood in solidarity with the Muslim community against Islamophobia.

Click here to add your name.

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Heaton College, my alma mater, is trying to fire Professor Larycia Hawkins - the first tenured African American woman at Wheaton College since 1860, and the only full-time African American woman on the faculty.

During a time of anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence in our country, Professor Hawkins posted a photo of herself wearing a hijab, writing on Facebook, "I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God."

Two weeks from now there will be a hearing to decide if Professor Hawkins will be fired or not. Before then, I'll be going to hand deliver a letter from multifaith leaders, people of faith, and people of moral courage calling on Wheaton to do the right thing and reinstate her.

Click here to sign our multifaith petition, which I will personally deliver before Professor Hawkins' hearing on February 11th.

It's shocking that this could happen at my alma mater because Wheaton was formed by leaders of the movement to abolish slavery.

But that's what gives me hope that we can persuade Wheaton to see how important (and Christian) it is that Professor Hawkins, a black Christian woman, stood in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters experiencing violence and misunderstanding.

The other option is unthinkable - firing Professor Hawkins would send the un-Christian message that it's okay to bully someone who is using their body as a holy sanctuary against hatred and fear.

That's why faith leaders and people of faith from around the country are calling on Wheaton's President Philip Ryken to reinstate Professor Hawkins.

Please join us in signing this multifaith petition, which I will deliver before the hearing in February.

Thank you for joining the struggle,

Rev. Dr. Peter Goodwin Heltzel (Wheaton, Class of 1994) and the Auburn Senior Fellows



Rev. Dr. William Barber II
Rabbi Sharon Brous
Sister Simone Campbell
Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño
Dr. Sharon Groves
Lisa Sharon Harper
Valarie Kaur
Rabbi Stephanie Kolin
Rev. Dr. Jacqui J. Lewis
Rev. Michael-Ray Mathews
Rev. Brian McLaren
Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III
Bishop Gene Robinson
Linda Sarsour
Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock