February 2025
From the President
Dear Parents,
If all goes according to plan (which it doesn’t, always), we are sending you the February edition of ePartnerships on Valentine’s Day.
This happy providence makes today an especially good day to declare how much we love our Wheaton parents!
We love your commitment to Wheaton College due to your love for your precious students as they study here. We love seeing your gifts, virtues, interests, and convictions reflected in what they contribute to our community. We love your encouragement, when you are able to share it. And we love your prayers for our campus—especially for our life together in Jesus Christ.
On this Valentine’s Day, please know that you are loved!
In Christ's love,
Philip Ryken
President
Collegiate Day of Prayer
Join us on the Collegiate Day of Prayer to pray with your fellow parents!
Zoom Parent Prayer Calls are scheduled for Thursday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in all U.S. time zones, with one exception -- there is a 7 a.m. EST option. Each prayer call will be led by a current parent and you may choose to pray silently or out loud.
Registration is required and will close on Tuesday, February 25 at midnight. When registering, please select the time zone that works best with your schedule, regardless of which time zone you reside in. Login information will be sent the day before the calls.
If you are not available to join a call, we still encourage you to set aside time to pray on February 27. Our Alumni and Parent Prayer Card offers 31 ways to pray for Wheaton and will help guide your prayers.
Thank you for praying!
Center for Vocation and Career
On Saturday, March 1, the Center for Vocation and Career (CVC) will host our fifth annual “What Are Your Five?” (WAY5) event, for first- and second-year students. While enjoying a delicious brunch, students will learn about some of their God-given strengths, and how they might approach work, by using the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment. After they register, students can take the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment free of charge, courtesy of the CVC. On the day of the event, student will learn more about their top five strengths from a cohort of trained junior and senior student presenters. If you have a first-year student (or sophomore who didn’t attend last year) encourage them to register.
Our final three Senior Series events will be held in March, April, and May. Graduation is right around the corner and our team is eager to help your graduate land well.
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Commencement Weekend: May 10-11, 2025
Congratulations to the parents of soon-to-be-alumni from the class of 2025! The Commencement Weekend schedule of events and related Frequently Asked Questions are posted on our Commencement webpage. We're looking forward to welcoming you to campus for this meaningful weekend in your family's life.
Spring Break and Housing Selection Information
Spring Break Housing
Campus housing closes for spring break on Saturday, March 8, at 10 a.m. and reopens on Saturday, March 15, at 3 p.m. The meal plan ends with dinner on Friday, March 7 and resumes with dinner on Saturday, March 15. The College provides housing for students during spring break for the following reasons: athletics, international students and those who live internationally, campus employment and required academic commitments.
Our housing calendar provides additional dates and times when housing closes in May and re-opens in August.
Housing Selection Process
Students will begin selecting their 2025-2026 housing locations after spring break. Housing selection is based on one’s year in school, starting with seniors and moving to freshmen. Within each class, a random lottery number is given and those with the lowest numbers select first. Since a core pillar of the Wheaton experience is our residential philosophy, students are expected to live in campus owned housing throughout their educational experience. If your student requires an ADA housing accommodation, please have them email LAS@wheaton.edu to start the process. Your student has received emails about our accommodation process. Since we are a residential campus, the only students allowed to live off campus for the 2025-2026 school year are those who qualify for automatic off-campus permission, including fifth-year students, married students, HNGR students, students who live with their parent(s) or in a home owned by their parents (a parent renting an apartment only qualifies if the parent lives there full time), third and fourth-year Engineering and Nursing students enrolled in the 3/2 program, and part-time students enrolled in 11 hours or less during the fall and spring semesters. Students who sign a lease and are denied off-campus permission will be required to remain in campus housing and are still responsible for their off-campus lease. Housing questions can be sent to housing.services@wheaton.edu.
WheatonGives: Support Your Wheaton Student!
Save the date for WheatonGives—April 9, 2025! WheatonGives is Wheaton’s annual giving day where family, friends, and alumni of the College show their belief in Wheaton and its students through giving. You can give to the Wheaton Fund, Scholarships, Athletics, and Internships. Extra opportunities come with giving, like the chance to nominate a current student (not a relative) to win a $5,000 scholarship or, for seniors, two extra graduation tickets. Even small gifts make a difference because a generous donor will give $500 for every person who makes a WheatonGives gift—all gifts grow by $500! Mark your calendar for April 9!
Special Exhibit at the Billy Graham Museum
This spring, the Billy Graham Museum is pleased to welcome a special traveling exhibit, Through Gates of Splendor: The Elisabeth Elliot Story. A partnership with the Museum of the Bible and The Elisabeth Elliot Foundation, this temporary exhibit explores the remarkable story of one woman’s faith and resilience in the face of overwhelming tragedy.
A tribute to her bestselling 1957 book of the same name, Through Gates of Splendor features rare artifacts, photographs, and other memorabilia documenting Wheaton College alumna Elisabeth Elliot’s legacy as a pioneering missionary and Bible translator among the Waorani people in the jungles of Ecuador.
The Billy Graham Museum warmly invites campus visitors to explore this compelling story, tracing the Elisabeth Elliot’s remarkable missionary journey in South America and her later worldwide ministry as a popular Christian author and speaker.
Through Gates of Splendor: The Elisabeth Elliot Story will open on January 31 and run through May 10, 2025. For more information, contact the Billy Graham Museum at 630-752-5960 or bgmuseum@wheaton.edu.
Wheaton in Chicago
Do you know – or perhaps even work for – an organization or company in Chicago that would like to host a Wheaton in Chicago intern for a semester? Wheaton in Chicago welcomes students every semester from all majors and class years who work several days per week at an internship site of their choosing. We regularly add new potential internship sites to our Wheaton in Chicago Internship Database. New sites would be ideally located on the South Side near our Chicago campus in the Woodlawn neighborhood or within relatively easy access via public transportation. Connect with us at wheaton.in.chicago@wheaton.edu.
If your student wants to deep dive into Chicago and explore their vocational interests while staying on track for graduation requirements, encourage them to apply for Wheaton in Chicago fall 2025 or spring 2026 by March 7.
A Year Set Apart: Vanguard Gap Year
Did you know that Wheaton offers a Christian liberal arts gap year program through the HoneyRock Center for Leadership Development?
Vanguard is an unparalleled experience that provides a year of spiritual formation, community building, vocational discernment, creation immersion, and college preparation. It’s designed for emerging adults who are looking for purposeful experiences that help bridge the gap between high school and adulthood. Do you know someone who could benefit? Share this opportunity and help them find their purpose in an authentic Christian community!! Learn More.
How can you pray for Wheaton this month?
- Pray that students attending The President’s Ball (Prez Ball) on February 17 will have a fun and safe time.
- Pray for daily peace and hope for those in the Wheaton family journeying with serious illness.
- Pray that the campus community will seek to show hospitality to one another in all places and all times.
The Wheaton College Parent Engagement Team
