By Kara Grace Hess, Senior Associate Editor
Two decades ago, Wheaton College made national headlines for letting students dance — on occasion. Now, students want fewer restrictions on their spontaneous expressions. Or, as one student put it, “Let the people boogie.”
This past spring, Student Government Association (SGA) Student Body President Marina Ntragatakis and Vice President Zach Welch offered feedback for the first revision of the Community Covenant that has taken place under the college presidency of Philip Ryken. The covenant undergoes a standard revision process about every two decades. Wheaton College has not undergone the standard revision process of its covenant since 2003, when the college ended its ban on dancing.
The Community covenant, which all students and faculty sign, covers dancing under the section “embracing college standards,” which reads:
“On-campus dances will take place only with official College sponsorship.”
The dance policy is the primary policy of concern for the SGA board, informed by previous student sentiment surveys.
SGA, now led by sophomores Bryant Davis and Cara Pisani, this year’s new SGA president and vice president, respectively, will continue the momentum from last academic year. Their goal: to assist the administration in increasing the “accessibility” of the Community Covenant, and clarify its implications on student life.
“As student leaders, we desire to glorify God and hold fast to what is right,” Pisani said in an email to the Record. “At the same time, we believe that as Christians, we are encouraged to live freely and enjoy responsibly what the Lord has given us.”
According to Welch, Ryken has expressed an interest in changing the wording of the document as a whole to allow for its use in a liturgical format during a campus chapel context.
Although SGA has given feedback on the covenant, any changes must be approved by the Board of Trustees. It is ultimately under the authority of the Board of Trustees to modify, reject or accept final changes. Updates were also proposed for the Student Handbook, which Dean for Student Engagement Steve Ivester and Vice President for Student Life Paul Chelsen oversee. The student handbook acts as a guide for students as they adhere to the covenant.
Welch shared that there are no intended changes to the “underlying convictional material,” regarding topics such as “biblical definitions of marriage and sexuality, alcohol, and other hot–button student issues.”
The proposed changes seek to clarify the student handbook, as well as expand the range of Wheaton clubs, organizations and departments permitted to sponsor dance events. The SGA board also hopes to remove restrictive language surrounding spontaneous dance, gender specific dance expectations and off-campus participation.
The current covenant dance policy only allows for dances to occur “with official college sponsorship.” Regarding gender specific dance policy, the handbook permits “Spontaneous dancing with campus members of the same gender in campus housing units.” The student handbook contains further restrictions.
The feedback from SGA to loosen this policy in the student handbook would permit any group to organize on-campus dances without college sponsorship.
“From our survey data and anecdotal evidence, it seems that most students see the current dance policy as arbitrary and/or unnecessarily restrictive,” Kendall said.
Within the fall 2024 survey, some students shared their frustration and desire for revisions in response to the question “What do you know about what the current Wheaton College dance policy says?”
“The current dance policy is extremely vague, since it only provides ‘examples of how to use Christian freedom,’ and doesn’t give any guidelines or boundaries,” one said.
“I think that restricting dancing is kind of stupid, in a Saturday morning cartoon villain way,” another echoed.
SGA plans to invite student feedback on the community covenant as the semester continues. They encourage students to reach out if there are any suggestions, ideas or concerns to student.government@my.wheaton.edu.
Davis hopes these updates and future revisions increase student engagement with the document. He worries that too many students only skim the document, looking for what rules they need to abide by to avoid getting into trouble. Davis and Pisani, alongside the administration, are aiming for more than student comprehension at the end of this revision — they want it to be accessible and meaningful.
“When it’s taken seriously and made a part of everyday life at Wheaton, it can become more than a set of expectations and rather a method of worship.”
Editor’s Note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated that feedback from SGA was intended to loosen the community covenant rather than the student handbook. The Record regrets the error.
