Cameron

Potter
Ethics & Education
Fall 2016
EDUC 60813
Dr. Doug Simpson
Media Paper
10/17/2016


Ethics in education is a complicated. The truth is, ethics in any sphere is complicated,

but ethics in education is particularly complicated. This is due to the very nature of education.

Both education and ethics are deeply personal, unconsciously cultural, and inevitably self-

reproducing. Ethics involves strongly held beliefs and convictions, deeply seated within the

holder – and therefore critically important to share or pass on to others. The difficultly,

however, is that these deeply seated conviction are rarely held in common across a society.

One only needs to briefly examine the news to find ethical “flash points” where individuals are

arguing about ethical issues. Examples are easily found in the recent political cycle, with Donald

Trump providing easy fodder with regards to his “locker room talk”, or Hillary Clinton with her

missing emails. Depending on your ethical priorities, one or the other (or both!) of these

candidates can be seen as unethical, and therefore unfit for presidency. This ethical debate

becomes even more heated when education is involved. Ethics and education become

particularly personal because, in part, the ethical beliefs of a particular curriculum or teacher

are informing the ethical beliefs of students. It’s no longer just a personally held ethic, but one

that has a direct influence on the classroom – and in a unique power dynamic.

One such example of this is highlighted in a recent article written in the New York Times.

The article is titled, “The Professor Who Wore a Hijab in Solidarity – Then Lost Her Job”, written

by Ruth Graham. The subtitle of the article sets the scene, “When Larycia Hawkins, the first
black woman to receive tenure at Wheaton College, made a symbolic gesture of support for

Muslims, the evangelical college became divided over what intellectual freedom on its campus

really meant”. The article goes on to describe Hawkins as a passionate, gifted teacher, who

sacrificed her personal life, health, and comfort to teach at Wheaton College. While working

with Wheaton College students was a labor of love, Hawkins’ relationship with the

administration began to fray after a few short years. Hawkins pushed the boundaries of what

was comfortable for the Wheaton College administration, and was called in for many

“theological check-ups”.

Where we pick up the story of Hawkins focuses on December 13th, 2015. Hawkins

posted a 6-paragraph update to her Facebook page describing her sense of social responsibility

and solidarity with Muslim women around the world. She also announced that she planned to

wear a hijab during Advent. The college placed her on leave within days, and moved to fire her

shortly thereafter. While the argument for (or against) these actions could be viewed as

religiously based – that falls beyond the scope of this paper. The ethical considerations for (and

against) these actions will be discussed and examined. Before we do this, however, we much

seek to understand the culture of Wheaton College and the context that we find ourselves in.

Wheaton College is an evangelical college, founded in 1860, and often referred to by

faculty and students as “the Christian Harvard”. While other “Christian Colleges” are de facto

indoctrination grounds for the conservative right, Wheaton prides itself on academia, critical

thinking, and applied theology. Indeed, few colleges have achieved was Wheaton has –

retaining their strong Christian values and theology, while promoting critical thinking and
robust academics. In this environment, we find Hawkins posting about a hajib on Facebook, and

encouraging solidarity with Muslim women around the world.

In pursuit of ethics and the “good life”, Wheaton is in a difficult position. Do they allow a

tenured professor, beloved by students, to express her opinion and beliefs? Is there space for

academic and intellectual freedom? If they allow this freedom, does it compromise the

college’s religiously informed ethical foundation? If they choose to dismiss Hawkins, does it

discourage independent thought and freedoms for all other tenured (and tenure-track)

professors?

In this situation, it’s clear that Wheaton acted swiftly and decisively because they felt

that it was in their best interests. It seems that choosing to dismiss Hawkins in this manner was

a result of their belief that doing so would allow them to champion their principles. Hawkins

was described as an excellent and well-loved professor. Choosing to fire her was undoubtedly

difficult for many, and the unwanted press could be seen as a negative stain on the university.

Keeping Hawkins on staff, however, would require holding some principle ethics of the

university more loosely. This was obviously unacceptable to the administration, and the non-

consequentialist decision was made.

In conclusion, while this form of decision-making seems unpopular in culture at large, it

also seems that this is a required characteristic for a 150-year-old university in order to remain

connected to its founding purpose. As a counter example, Harvard, Yale, even TCU have strayed

dramatically from their founding tenets. Some would argue that in doing so, the above schools

have been able to maximize benefit to the most number of students, growing in size, income,
and prestige. This would be a textbook case of consequentialist thinking. From an ethical

perspective, the better path is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.

Works Cited:
Graham, R. (October 13, 2016). The Professor Wore a Hijab in Solidarity –Then Lost Her Job.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/magazine/the-professor-wore-a-hijab-in-solidarity-then-
lost-her-job.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0