Town hall chapel pranks are back for the second year since the pandemic, and again made use of the town hall setup: two mics in the aisles, two mics in the balcony and lines of students. On Feb. 5, President Philip Ryken fielded the student body’s inquiries for 40 minutes, answering everything from theological questions to Fischer 2 East’s invitation to their annual cheese night.
Like last year, the main chapel prank was planned and executed by members of the class of 2025 rather than the senior class, which was the pre-pandemic norm. When Rome Williams, third year biblical and theological studies major, stepped to the microphone, five male students wearing togas appeared at the edges of the stage. Williams began to read Judges 15:11-17 as the five students acted out the passage, wherein Samson takes vengeance on the Philistines.
When the passage says “the Philistines came toward him shouting,” approximately 30 men in togas stood up and yelled in their chapel seats. “Samson” ran to the front of the stage and fended off the “Philistines” with a donkey jawbone made of floor installation material from Home Depot.
“One of the key advantages of Town Hall Chapel is the opportunity to make Scripture accessible to the campus through drama, choreography and men in togas,” Williams said. He said he appreciates how Ryken always plays along with the pranks and how they bring the campus together.
Another prank was planned by a group of seniors who entered the chapel with a stop sign and set it down next to their seats. Public Safety confiscated the sign before anything further happened.
Ryken inherited the annual town hall chapel tradition from his predecessor, Duane Liftin, Wheaton College’s seventh president. Litfin, like Ryken, used the town hall session as a chance for transparency and interaction with the student body.
“Students called him ‘D.L. Smooth’ mainly because of his stellar responses in Town Hall chapel,” Ryken said in an email to the Record.
He said he prepares by talking to a few colleagues and a few students (usually including a Ryken or two) regarding what topics they expect to arise. Questions are unmoderated and Ryken’s responses are unscripted.
“My favorite two parts are when we hear ourselves laugh together, and when it’s over,” said Ryken.
Students created bingo sheets and posted them on unofficial Wheaton Instagram accounts, including @wheatonforumwall2.0 and @all_r0ads_lead, a student-run meme account. Students shouted “Bingo!” mid-service as the sheet’s predictions came true and they scored a row.
Throughout the session, several students raised concerns about the state of Chrouser Sports Complex, including weight room overcrowding and the decommissioned hot tub.
In regard to the weight room, Ryken announced that the college has about 25 percent of the donation funds needed to expand Chrouser and add a second weight room that teams can reserve.
“We need a major overhaul,” Ryken said in the town hall. “It will open up more space in our weight room for other recreational facilities, really a project for the whole campus.”
To the disappointment of at least two students who asked about the swimming facilities, the update will not include a new hot tub. Ryken said that pleas for a reprioritization of the issue could be heard by Michael Schauer, athletic director, or Jay Bieszke, facilities director.
Junior English major Mateo Anderson was the first to inquire about the status of the broken hot tub. Anderson, who is on the men’s swim team, said he will miss the community-building he experienced in the hot tub.
“There is just something unique about all of us jamming into the hot tub after a difficult practice that is irreplaceable,” Anderson told the Record after chapel. “As I find myself walking by a discarded and broken jacuzzi, it brings me deep emotional pain.”
Other speakers addressed Sunday building closures, the new student handbook policy on birth sex and gender identity, upcoming renovation of the Library, whether Wheaton would hire a female chaplain, birthday shoutouts and Ryken’s personal Christian faith. Ryken also received a personal invitation to a “holy rager” on Traber Hall’s third floor and the Swing Club Valentine’s Day dance, to which his wife, Lisa Ryken, was also invited.
Per an agreement with the Wheaton College president’s office, the Academic and Institutional Technology team does not post town hall chapels on YouTube.
Bella McDonald contributed reporting.
