Alumni across the political spectrum are speaking out about Wheaton College’s social media posts regarding Russell Vought’s appointment to director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. The college first published a customary congratulations on the high-level position last Friday, Feb. 7, but took it down on Feb. 8 and posted an explanation for their decision.
More than 1,000 former Wheaton students have signed an open letter stating their concerns about Vought’s agenda and the post from Wheaton’s Facebook and X, while numerous conservative commentators have criticized Wheaton for “caving to the woke mob” by removing the post from its Facebook page. Vought did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Wheaton College congratulates and prays for 1998 graduate Russell Vought regarding his senatorial confirmation to serve as the White House director of the Office of Management and Budget!” the initial post read. However, the college removed the post the following morning after numerous negative comments and replaced it with the statement pictured below.
Wheaton’s adapted post received enough engagement on the social media platform X to gain the attention of CEO Elon Musk, who reposted it with the caption “Unreal!”
“The explanation made no sense at all,” said Eric Teetsel ‘06 in an interview with the Record. “It just smells like Wheaton has decided to be concerned about what the world thinks and to be afraid.”
Teetsel, political mentee and personal friend of Vought, also rejected the idea that Wheaton’s actions were “non-partisan,” saying it has been “biblically stepping into controversial political topics since its founding as an abolitionist university.”
Wheaton alumni and parents of prospective students have spoken out via social media or emails to the office of Wheaton College President Philip Ryken, expressing their disappointment with the school’s decision to take down the initial congratulatory post.
Both dissenters of the original post and those upset that it was removed seem to agree on one thing — this situation is not without political implications.
In response to Wheaton’s assertion that the first congratulatory post was not a political endorsement, Ciera McElroy ‘17 said, “I beg to differ. If, for example, a Wheaton alum became executive director of Planned Parenthood, would they have posted a congratulations then? I sincerely doubt it.”
In response to a question about Vought during a regularly scheduled virtual alumni town hall on Feb. 10, Ryken characterized the initial post as non-partisan, which he said was instead meant to be a “recognition that we have a responsibility as a Christian community to pray for our leaders.”
Furthermore, Ryken said at the town hall that the comments from the first post demonstrated a misinterpretation — some expressed that the message advocated for the Republican Party or a “particular view of Christian nationalism.” In reference to the subsequent post from the college’s social media accounts, Ryken said the reason for the retraction of the first post was that “it seemed to be a distraction from our mission.”
Ryken and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Joe Moore declined to comment directly to the Record, pointing instead to the public statements.
Some alumni, who are opponents of Project 2025 — a political initiative that Vought co-authored — were displeased with the explanation they received, and shortly after the town hall, the aforementioned open letter was created.
The letter is titled “An Open Letter from Wheaton College Alumni on Project 2025 & Endorsing Russell Vought.” The introduction refers to biblical values such as “serving the hurt and the broken in our world,” citing those as the basis for the letter’s thesis: “We are concerned by the college’s quick and public proclamation of support in social media posts on Feb. 7, 2025.”
The letter ends with a commitment for all alumni who sign the petition as an expression of more than political disagreement.
“We publically distance ourselves from Russell Vought’s work and reaffirm our commitment to the Gospel’s radical call to justice, mercy and humility,” it reads. “Silence in the face of such an anti-Christian vision is complicity.”
At the center of both reactions, however, there is a similar sentiment that Teetsel spoke to: “The thing that I have been encouraged by over the last few days is that, universally, every single alum I’ve talked to, is not upset because of their ideological commitments or because of their partisan biases, they’re upset because they love Wheaton and they want Wheaton to flourish.”
