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Wheaton College is a private, Christian college located in Wheaton, Illinois that was founded in 1860.
Known as the "Harvard of the Evangelicals," this academically challenging school is made up of approximately 2,400 undergraduate students. These students come from all 50 states and 44 different countries. Its motto "For Christ and His Kingdom" is proudly displayed on its front lawn across from the Billy Graham Center, named after the college's most well-known graduate. As a Wheaton professor said, "The Billy Graham Center is like colonial architecture on steroids."
But Wheaton's most recognizable building is Blanchard Hall, named after the school's first president, Jonathan Blanchard, who hoped to create a building much like ones seen on the campus of Oxford University. Blanchard, a staunch abolitionist, was also responsible for the school's new name; it had been founded in late 1853 as the Illinois Institute, and was a stop on the famous Underground Railroad.
Notable alumni include Billy Graham, Jim Elliot, Wes Craven, Benjamin Walstrum, and Dennis Hastert. Students who become engaged, celebrate an anniversary, or simply pay a twenty dollar deposit may ring the bell in Blanchard Tower to celebrate momentous occasions. In the fall of 2004 the Todd M. Beamer Student Center was completed. Todd Beamer was a Wheaton alumnus who attempted to stop the terrorists on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.
Wheaton College made national headlines on February 20, 2003 when it lifted its then 143 year-old ban on student dancing. In addition to allowing undergraduate students the right to dance, Wheaton offered "adult faculty members and grad students ... the freedom to choose whether they want to smoke or drink alcohol, at least while off-campus."
Wheaton College also hosts the Marion E. Wade Center, an extensive research library and museum of the books and papers of seven British writers: C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, Dorothy L. Sayers, George MacDonald, and Charles Williams.
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