The Wheaton Record

By Julia Bubp, Staff Writer The Morton Arboretum has begun construction of four new lighting installations for its annual holiday exhibition, “Illumination.” Featuring more than 1,000 trees and 1,400 lights, the display covers 50 acres and will run Nov. 14 through Jan. 2. Tickets go on sale to the public on Oct. 15. The Morton Arboretum is a 1,700-acre botanical garden and research center located five miles from Wheaton College that promotes the conservation and study of trees from around the wo...

By Claire Taylor, Staff Writer, and Orli Strickman, Senior Managing Editor Over 100 people attended a rally on Thursday, Sept. 10, advocating for a traffic signal and crosswalk on Roosevelt Road by St. Francis High School, between the Marian Park Apartments and Target. The rally was organized by Marian Park residents and members of DuPage United, who work to build relational bridges between Marian Park and civic institutions, schools, churches, mosques and synagogues.

By Claire Taylor, Staff Writer Over 100 people gathered on the fifth floor of Billy Graham Hall on Friday, Sept. 11, to dedicate a new seminar room in honor of the late Wheaton Professor of Theology Daniel Treier. Treier died Dec. 22, 2025, after a brief battle with metastatic lung cancer. He had taught at Wheaton for 24 years. Dean of Litfin Divinity School and Professor of Theology Marc Cortez opened the ceremony by explaining how the Treier Seminar Room came to fruition.

By Jotham Bailey, Staff Writer The Office of Intercultural Engagement announced on Aug. 25 that they were hiring Desteni Benson for the new position of program coordinator as a broad restructuring of the office. She will be responsible for event coordination and programming as well as supporting the work of the Chief Intercultural Engagement Officer Vanessa Quainoo. Benson will join the OIE in enforcing the office’s operational strategy: the Kingdom Diversity Action Plan.

By Mallory Mankin, Staff Writer The Wheaton Public Library celebrated the completion of its renovated plaza Tuesday, Sept. 8, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by an outdoor concert in the newly redesigned space. The ceremony featured Wheaton Mayor Philip Suess; U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, D-6th District; and U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-3rd District.

By Caroline Housworth, Editor-in-Chief Twenty-five years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy struck the United States when a series of terrorist attacks occurred that led to the deaths of almost 3,000 people. Three alumni from Wheaton College died during the attacks: Jason Oswald ’95, Jeffrey P. Mladenik MA ’95 and Todd Beamer ’91, who became a hero as he, along with a group of fellow passengers, attempted to gain control of one of the hijacked planes.

By Julia Bubp, Staff Writer Trinity Christian College students learned in October 2025 that their school was in its final year. Less than a year later, five former Trinity students are beginning the semester at Wheaton College, 30 miles from their previous campus.

By Hannah Bartlebaugh, Staff Writer On Saturday, Sept. 5, the Wheaton College football team hosted the Mount Union Purple Raiders at McCully Stadium for a highly anticipated season-opening matchup. The Thunder emerged victorious in a thriller with a final score of 24-23 that came down to the final seconds. Prior to Saturday’s matchup, Wheaton had faced Mount Union seven times and lost all seven. Their most recent matchup was on Sept.

By Jonathan Porteous, Guest Opinion Contributor and Former Opinion Editor “Every man is followed by a shadow which is his death — dark, featureless and mute. And for every man there is a place where his shadow is clarified and made his reflection, where his face is mirrored in the ground,” the American farmer and author Wendell Berry wrote almost 60 years ago. “He becomes the follower of what pursued him.” I read these words, found near the end of Berry’s essay, “A Native Hill,” for the first ...

By Bailey Garrison, Guest Opinion Contributor Since its release in April, Caro Claire Burke’s “Yesteryear” has sat atop seemingly every bookstore’s bestsellers shelf. “Yesteryear” is a psychological thriller about a “tradwife” influencer named Natalie who wakes up one morning and finds herself living in a nightmarish version of the 19th-century lifestyle that she presents to her online followers. Natalie wants to appear as the model Christian woman, but her bitter voice drives the story. She loo...