Monday, June 14, 2010

All the Views Fit to Print.




















Georgia Irwin Douglass our "ignore the sinner, hate the sin" hero! Georgia Irwin Douglass '70, '94 is the Director of Marketing Communications at Wheaton, and editor of the Wheaton Magazine. She has lived in the Wheaton area for more than 44 years, returning to campus as an employee 26 years ago. She considers the magazine her "night job" because as an editor she often lies awake at night creating story ideas, writing headlines and captions, designing layouts and keeping the conservative code alive.

Also...

April Silas is our "invisible" hero! April Silas is the Executive Director of Homeless Children's Network. Ms. Silas has an MA in Psychology and Political Science, JD, and is a PhD Candidate in Social Research. She is responsible for implementing the Child Care Consultation program in Shelter-based Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Provider sites.  Silas did not go to Wheaton College, but her life partner, Carolyn Reyes '91 did. April and her life partner, Carolyn live in the Bay Area with their two Labs, Zendo and Tenzo. Together they enjoy reading, sitting very, very still, backpacking and painting rainbows. Also they practice Buddhism at the Zen Center in San Francisco. They recently announced the birth of their daughter, Kairos. (the name meaning "right or opportune moment")


Wait a minute... I just read the latest Wheaton College Magazine's Newcomers section, strange, I saw Carolyn but it didn't say anything about April Silas. I just assumed that Carolyn had a baby out of "wedlock" and was going to be raising the child by herself, or maybe a shotgun wedding was going to be announced in the next issue. Now I understand, duh,  I should have figured it out with the living in the "Bay Area" thing.

Let me ask Georgia.

Wheatie: Hello Georgia, this is Wheatie. Love the new issue, lots of great history. Articles on slavery, secret societies, Harv Chrouser dressing up looking like a lady, kissing teachers, and war protesters. Wow! But... I was reading the "newcomers" section and saw Carolyn Reyes name but not her life partner, April Silas. Why?

Georgia: Thank you, Wheatie. Yes, it is a fantastic issue chronicling the long history of Wheaton. (long pause) Oh, the April Silas thing, hmmm, you saw that did you. Well I really can't say anything about it. Why don't you call President Litfin and ask him.

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Wheatie: Hello President Litfin this is Wheatie Heroes.

President Litfin: Hello there Wheatie. I've been reading your blog, can't say that I'm a fan. Although the picture of me dressed up like a woman was kinda funny and their beer tie thing, my grandkids loved that. I'm kinda sad right now, I'm just here in my office packing up the place. You know, I retire in just 17 days. So Wheatie, what can I do for you today?

Wheatie: Sorry to see you go, but I've got a question for you before you do. The last issue of the Wheaton Magazine had a birth announcement for Carolyn Reyes, but edited out her gay, life partners name. Why would you do something like that Duane, why Duane?

President Litfin: Wheatie, Wheatie, Wheatie. You know when you were a student here, you agreed to pledge to a set of convictions. Wheaton is a voluntary community of people who share a set of convictions, living, working and teaching out of those convictions even as alumni. We understand the nature of this kind of institution and what it requires to retain this kind of institution over the longer term. Read my book, "Conceiving the Christian College" and you will see that we need to be crusaders, I mean thunder-ers for preserving our religious identity. Carolyn Reyes clearly isn't "married" by our legal system, her parter isn't recognized by the State of California, so I don't see why we would would recognize her in the Wheaton Magazine.

Wheatie: I'm still confused. So if a student who attended here goes off and makes different lifestyle choices that goes against the schools/Biblical beliefs, you they become  an "ex-communciated alumni?" So you are saying that by including something like that in the magazine, the institution is endorsing that lifestyle? For example if I played for the Lakers and all of a sudden I decided to play for the Celtics, you might include my photo but burn out the Celtics logo?

President Litfin: Love the sinner, hate the sin. Don't rock the boat. Keep the donors happy. Show grace, but be a doctrinal policeman. That's all I have to say on the topic, feel free to discuss it amongst yourselves. But... please wait til July 1st to bring it up again with Dr. Phil. See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya.


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If it makes you feel any better we also founded these last issue edits in the trash can of the magazine office:















editoral edit: "I presume that you have your own catholic problems there just as we did..."


















editoral edit: "We were told that the first student entering her room in the new year would get a big, deep, fat smooch of purple lipstick"
















editoral edit: " I spent three months this summer hitchhiking around the Territory of Alaska, boning, preaching and writing articles."















editoral edit: The decline is attributed to lazy donors and a total return of -18.8%...



















editoral edit: Ethiopia has much to teach the fat americans," Chris says "We have blind spots and don't even see that we are a bunch of consumeristic bastards."



















editoral edit: remove tittle, scratch that I guess it's not sexual
















editoral edit: "throwing water, dirty magazines and women's panties from the windows."









(HT Nomination C.F.)

3 comments:

  1. It is hard for me to fathom the type of cowardliness involved in writing this vituperative slander. Good luck. It reminds me of Agatha Christie's Poison Pen novel, or Gaudy Night by Sayers. "Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold." "I was angry with my friend, I told it out, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe, I told it not, my wrath did grow" --William Blake. Arguably this does not fit with an institution, but the anonymity factor+trivial slander=makes this look like such schoolyard bickering it is hard to read. Not funny. Not even interesting. I thought this would at least be interesting. Oh well.
    Margaret Beaird, not anonymous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yikes! In five years I've become a bit more mellow. Please erase my comment? Lord Jesus forgive me :) Sometimes not knowing the grace behind a story leaves the satire a bit biting, but my comment was far worse. in Jesus, MB

    ReplyDelete