President Ryken’s all-school Q&A during chapel has historically been known for chapel pranks, BINGO sheets and burning questions that Ryken avoids giving a straight answer to. This year’s town hall was no exception.
Last year’s chapel prank, planned by senior communication major Rome Williams and his class, involved a live reenactment of the Bible story about Samson’s jawbone. The prank was Williams’ second consecutive year organizing the prank, carrying on a decades-long tradition of planning pranks for Town Hall Chapel.
This year, Williams was looking to do something bigger, calling it his “magnum opus.”
“Pranks in the past have encompassed the entire chapel,” Williams said in an interview, “by planning something that’s big enough to encapsulate everybody in it. So it feels like you’re in an experience rather than just watching a performance.”
The selected Bible story for this year was the Battle of Jericho. About three weeks before Town Hall Chapel, Williams organized a small group of trusted friends to help plan the details. He then created a group chat on GroupMe that garnered over 100 students who would have an active role in playing the Israelites who marched around the city of Jericho.
“It’s been interesting this year, working with compartmentalization, so that each person knows what their job is, and then doesn’t either mess up what somebody else is doing or doesn’t leak it,” Williams said.
At chapel, the students marched around the seats in Edman, all dressed in white for uniformity, while Williams read aloud the story from Joshua 6. Conservatory students came down the center aisle playing the song “Joshua Fought the Battle at Jericho” on brass instruments.
Behind them, the senior class had prepared the largest and most well-kept secret of their prank: a handful of students carried the infamous junior-senior bench down the center aisle to Ryken on stage, then out the back. Stealing the bench has been a long-standing tradition between the upper classes. Although some juniors lept from their seats to chase the bench out of the building, a getaway car was already waiting to whisk the coveted bench away from Edman.
When the song ended, the students gave a loud shout, released streamers and fell to the floor. Williams asked Ryken, “For the people of Jericho, would you say this was the end of the world?” The question was a play on Ryken’s topic for this year’s president’s chapel talks, focused on “The End of the World.”
Williams was satisfied with the success of the prank. He called for his younger classmates to “continue the legacy. Carry the torch.” Williams also hinted that a new chapel prank mastermind had already been selected, and next year’s chapel prank was in the works.
“Being Christian doesn’t mean you’re not fun, and small acts of chaos can be fun,” Williams said.
Town Hall Chapel brings a mix of silly and serious questions. Alongside Willaims’ Jericho prank, one student asked about the future of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies with President Trump’s new executive order in place. Ryken responded that federal D.E.I. policy change would not apply to Wheaton as an institution.
“In a uniquely Christian way, Wheaton College will continue to celebrate ethnic diversity, continue to pursue racial reconciliation as one of God’s purposes for us in Jesus Christ,” said Ryken.
Other speakers asked about dating wisdom for the “struggling romantics,” how to not lose in fantasy football, Christian speculative fiction, learning and accessibility services for neurodivergent students, and if Ryken is a supporter of “sacred bass music.” Per usual, Ryken was also invited to several upcoming events, including Fischer 2East’s infamous Cheese Night, Wheaton Symphonic Band’s winter concert and the improv show of the “One Hit Thunders.”
After controversy arose on Instagram over the College’s seeming support of the pro-life movement by sending Voice for Life (VFL) students to lead the National March for Life, Julia Moon asked the president outright why the college has refrained from taking such bold stances on other sanctity of life issues. Moon, a junior studying international relations, stated seeing a double standard in Wheaton’s political non-alignment before asking her question.
“If Wheaton has been willing to raise their voice and take political action in support of the unborn, then why have we refrained from speaking on behalf of millions of lives already in this country that are now at risk?” asked Moon, referring to refugees impacted by President Trump’s freezing of humanitarian aid via executive orders.
Moon then recited several chapters of Scripture, such as Matthew 25 and Hebrews 12, in support of refugee, asylum and immigrant lives. In response, Ryken stated that, according to the Community Covenant, “we want to represent Jesus Christ effectively across the full range of biblical issues.”
“That certainly refers to how we welcome strangers, being pro-life in every aspect from conception to the grave,” he continued. Ryken then stated that Wheaton’s support of VFL’s participation in the March for Life was based on it being a “longstanding” student organization, and Wheaton does not advocate for a particular political party.
“I was very frustrated by the lack of conversation about the global refugee crisis on campus, especially as opposed to the consistent conversation around abortion in chapel, on social media, from professors etc.,” said Moon in an interview with the Record. “I just wanted something to be said.”
To her surprise, Moon received much applause in chapel for her question, as well as texts from peers and even a few emails from faculty and staff. “It was really encouraging to experience that,” she said
