Wheaton College leaders are taking steps to fire the suspended political science professor who drew criticism late last year for saying Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

College officials confirmed the evangelical Christian school’s provost, Stanton Jones, delivered a notice Monday to Wheaton College President Philip Ryken and the professor, Larycia Hawkins, that recommended the initiation of Hawkins’ “termination-for-cause” proceedings.

The college said it has had frank conversations with Hawkins on doctrinal issues as it pursued the possibility of reconciliation with her but that “Hawkins has stated clearly her unwillingness to participate in such further clarifying conversations.”

A spokeswoman for Hawkins, Shelly Ruzicka, said the professor wouldn’t immediately comment on the effort to fire her but that it comes as she “maintains Christian support for the Muslim community amid the ongoing anti-Muslim climate.”

Hawkins, who is Christian, was placed on administrative leave Dec. 15 after she posted photos of herself on Facebook and Twitter wearing a hijab during Advent to show solidarity with Muslims.

Talks between Wheaton College and a Christian professor suspended last week after declaring on social media that Muslims and Christians share the same God have broken down, according to a nonprofit religious group working closely with the woman.

Arise Chicago, a nonprofit that fights for workers rights, has been working closely with Larycia Hawkins since she was suspended last week. On Tuesday, they said Hawkins submitted a theological statement that the college had requested, but it appeared the associate professor was coming closer to termination rather than reconciliation.

“Talks have broken down at Wheaton. Dr. Hawkins submitted her theological statement as requested by the College. However, her suspension still stands, and it appears that the College is moving toward terminating her employment. Dr. Hawkins stands by her actions, and is continuing her act of Christian embodied solidarity,” Shelly Ruzicka, Arise Chicago’s director of operations, said in an email on Tuesday.

Hawkins, the first African-American woman to become a tenured professor at the college, posted photos of herself on Facebook and Twitter wearing a hijab on Dec. 10. She also wrote that she stood in religious solidarity with Muslims “because they, like me, a Christian are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God,” Hawkins wrote.

On Dec. 15, she was called into the college provost’s office and was told she was under administrative review and placed on administrative leave until the end of the spring semester.

Hawkins told reporters last week that the movement was sparked by a conversation with a student who wanted to show solidarity with Muslims by wearing a hijab. She said her statements on social media came out of her love for Jesus.

Wheaton College could not be reached for comment.

read more at 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/education/7/71/1201361/talks-suspended-professor-wheaton-college-break-group-says

https://www.islamstory.com/en/artical/19440/Wheaton-College-fire-professor-supported-Muslims