On Aug. 26, the chaplain’s office emailed all undergraduate students to announce an updated chapel service attendance policy. The revisions describe new consequences for exceeding 11 excused absences while on good chapel standing, chapel warning status and chapel probation. The 2024-2025 Student Handbook includes all changes in detail.
Steve Ivester, the dean for Student Engagement, spearheaded the effort to update the policy over a year-long period starting last fall. The decision process included regular meetings with Vice President for Student Development Paul Chelsen, Dean of Residence Life Justin Heth, Dean of Student Wellness Toussaint Whetstone, Chaplain Wilson, President Ryken and Student Government.
“We’re offering more grace on the front end of chapel attendance accountability and tightening the back end of chapel attendance,” said Ivester, describing the major takeaways from the revisions.
The email from the chaplain’s office included a note from Chelsen highlighting four key decisions students should consider.
Notably, the new revisions have restored all student chapel records to good standing. According to Chelsen and Ivester, this was done to avoid any confusion about the updates.
“We thought the fairest thing would be just to reboot, and we thought people would actually be more open to considering what the changes were,” said Chelsen.
Ivester also added, “We wanted to extend grace to everyone when making a change to the policy.”
Students who exceed 11 excused absences a semester will still be placed on chapel warning but no longer need to meet with a Residence Life staff member or student chaplain. Instead, they will receive an email with support sources. Chelsen and Ivester said this change was in response to student confusion over why they were meeting someone — usually their Resident Assistant — about chapel attendance.
Additionally, students who exceed 11 excused absences while on chapel warning status will now meet with a Student Development dean or the director of athletics instead of a chaplain’s office staff member.
The policy has also eliminated the category of chapel pre-suspension. Previously, students who exceeded 11 excused absences while on chapel probation were placed in pre-suspension status, which only required a meeting with the director of Student Care. Students who exceed 11 absences while on probation will now be automatically suspended from enrollment for a semester, in addition to meeting with a Student Development dean.
Chelsen stated that the elimination of chapel pre-suspension was made to reduce confusion for students.
“It was hard for students to understand what that really means from an accountability standpoint,” Chelsen said. “It just felt like another layer of probation.”
For sophomore chemistry major Phoebe Tanacea, the news of updated chapel attendance policies created much worry, especially since she was already on chapel probation. But the decision to revert all students to good chapel standing was a great relief, as it granted her amnesty.
“The amnesty motivated me to continue to be in good standing because then I’d be working less from a place of fear about what was going to happen,” Tanacea said.
Student chaplain Liza Wilson, a senior philosophy major, said that chapel is a valuable part of Wheaton’s community and that she was “relatively unbothered by the stricter policy changes.”
Junior math and secondary education double major Abby Karls, who also serves as a student chaplain, said she was unsure how effective the policy will be in incentivizing attendance.
“I hope this encourages students to attend chapel and stay out of chapel warning or probation,” Karls said. “However, it also does not create as much accountability early in the semester as with the previous policy.”
David Ramler, a senior computer science major, said that the stricter policy makes Wheaton “less accommodating to those who already struggle with physical or mental health or those that are grieving the death of a family member.”
Ramler recalled when his fiancée was put on chapel warning status after her grandfather passed away and she had only one excused absence left.
“The concept of ‘planning out your chapel skips’ falls apart when unexpected health or family issues throw a wrench in the whole process,” said Ramler, referencing the advice often given by the chaplain’s office. “Stricter policies make our campus less accessible.”
In addition to offering assistance to students about the revisions, Chaplain Wilson voiced his support for the policy in an email to the Record.
“As the chaplain of Wheaton College, I fully support the spiritual formation and development of our campus community. Having a policy that encourages participation in chapel and support for developing students is a wonderful idea,” Wilson wrote.
Chelsen stated that, while the policy does enforce student chapel attendance, Wheaton College is in no way mandating students to worship God against their will.
“We are not trying to force people to worship,” Chelsen said. “We are trying to set the table.”
