Wheaton College hijab-wearing ‘college professor’ takes university of virginia job

A former Wheaton College professor who created controversy for wearing a hijab is joining the staff at the University of Virginia.

The university’s Institute of Advanced Studies in Culture said Thursday in a statement Dr. Larycia Hawkins accepted a position as the Abd el-Kader Visiting Faculty Fellow. The institute says she will research relationships between religions and races.

Hawkins was teaching political science at Wheaton College when she posted her views about Muslims and Christians on Facebook and donned the headscarf worn by some Muslim women to counter what she called “vitriolic” rhetoric against Muslims.

The school said it was Hawkins’ words, not her clothing, that necessitated the suspension, saying she made statements “that seem inconsistent with Wheaton College’s doctrinal convictions, which she voluntarily agreed to support and uphold when she entered into an employment agreement with the college.”

Wheaton College announced last month that it and Hawkins reached a “confidential agreement” for her to leave.

Hawkins, an associate professor, had taught at the private evangelical school since 2007.

Agencies/Canadajournal