When Wheaton College alumnus Adam Hibma attends homecoming next weekend, he and several others will be sporting gray hooded sweat shirts with the number 1 on front, colored like a rainbow.
The 25-year-old will be displaying school spirit among friends who openly recognize and support his identity as a gay man.
In April, alumni supportive of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning community formed a group to help students who may be struggling with their sexual orientation. Members usually connect through emails and Facebook messages, but during the school’s traditional homecoming weekend, the group, known as OneWheaton, will host its own series of activities.
At a school where students sign a covenant condemning homosexual behavior, this type of event is overdue, said group spokeswoman Kristin Winn, a 2007 graduate.
“I know a lot of us have never thought that we’d come back to Wheaton,” Winn said. “Since we’ve formed this community, we really wanted to meet each other.”
Hibma, a 2008 graduate, said stepping back on campus grounds “will be healing for a lot of people who maybe were scarred by their experience” at Wheaton.
A spokeswoman for Wheaton College said the school “welcomes all of our alumni to campus for homecoming weekend.”
In addition to attending the school’s football game on Oct. 8, OneWheaton will host a concert Oct. 7 featuring lesbian Christian singer Jennifer Knapp at a church in Glen Ellyn, followed by a “talk back” session in which Knapp, Hibma and other out Wheaton College alums will field questions — via text message — from students and community members.
More information is available at onewheaton.com.
