Larycia Hawkins

Larycia Alaine Hawkins (born August 22, 1972) is an American scholar, author, and speaker, who in 2013, became the first female African-American tenured professor at Wheaton College, a Christian Protestant liberal arts college. There she served as an associate professor of political science. She now teaches and researches at Lincoln University, where she is jointly appointed as assistant professor in the departments of politics and religious studies.

In December 2015, Hawkins became the center of a controversy when she made a post on her personal Facebook account for Advent affirming solidarity between Christians and Muslims. Wheaton College suspended her as a result of the negative publicity resulting from the social media post, which pictured her wearing hijab and explaining that it was an expression of solidarity with her Muslim sisters at a time when Muslims were facing rising ethnic tensions in the U.S. Hawkins was placed on paid administrative leave on December 15 as the school determined whether her statement that "Christians and Muslims worship the same god" was at odds with the school's core beliefs in Christianity. On February 8, 2016, Wheaton College and Hawkins issued a joint statement that they had "reached a confidential agreement under which they will part ways." On March 3, 2016, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia announced that Hawkins would be appointed as the school's Abd el-Kader Visiting Faculty Fellow.

Early life and education Hawkins was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was raised in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She received her B.A. in History and Sociology from Rice University in Houston, Texas in 1994. She received an M.P.A. at the University of Oklahoma in 2001. She subsequently completed her Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma in political science in 2007. Her research is about black theology and its relationship to political rhetoric and black political agendas, like those of the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP. Hawkins began wearing the hijab on December 11, Commentators such as Sharmeen Farooq remarked that Larycia Hawkins' practice was consistent with the ordinance of Christian women wearing a headcovering that is enjoined in the Bible.

On December 11, the Wheaton College administration issued a "Wheaton College Statement Regarding Christian Engagement with Muslim Neighbors" emphasizing that "overtures of Christian friendship must be enacted with theological clarity as well as compassion." Hawkins made a rejoinder on December 13, in her words, "clarifying the goal of my project and appealing to unity."

On December 15, 2015, the Wheaton College administration placed Hawkins on administrative leave and issued a "Wheaton College Statement Regarding Dr. Larycia Hawkins" "pending the full review to which she is entitled as a tenured faculty member."

On January 5, 2016, Wheaton College issued a public notice confirming that it was beginning formal proceedings to terminate Hawkins' employment, and maintaining that Hawkins had "declined to participate in further dialogue about the theological implications of her public statements and her December 17 response".

Hawkins has made repeated statements to the press asserting her affirmation of the Wheaton College Statement of Faith. She insists that her actions were motivated by Christian faith and that she is an orthodox Protestant. Emails obtained by Time magazine revealed that Wheaton provost Stan Jones considered Hawkins's statements "innocuous", but that the college had been receiving pressure about Hawkins and another faculty member who made statements about Islam. Gary Burge, a Wheaton New Testament professor, told Time, "I have seen no theological argument from the college that would deem her commitments unacceptable." Students and alumni of Wheaton College have begun a petition to reinstate "Doc Hawk", and some professors planned to wear their academic regalia on January 11 as an expression of support.

Publications Her publications:

Books "Prophetic and Priestly: The Politics of a Black Catholic Parish" (2015), In Black Scholars in White Space .

Essays .

Articles "A Live Wire? The Politics of Electricity Deregulation in Oklahoma." Oklahoma Policy Studies Review: Volume III, Number 1, 14–19. 2002 "The American Gaze Meets Black Bodies" Doc Hawk on Embodied Solidarity, July 7, 2016.

Editorials "A Challenge to Obama: Jump Ship." Chicago Tribune. February 5, 2007.