Biography
Early Life
Larycia Hawkins is a political science scholar whose social media post in solidarity with Muslim women sparked a national debate.
Hawkins was born in Oklahoma City where she grew up in a Baptist church pastored by her grandfather who baptized her at age eleven.
She maintained her Christian faith as a young adult and became active in the Campus Crusade for Christ chapter at Rice University where she earned a bachelor’s degree.
Afterward, she attended graduate school in the Department of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma, and completed her dissertation, Framing the Faith-Based Initiative: Black Church Elites & the Black Policy Agenda, in 2009.
In her first professional appointment at Wheaton College, a Christian academic institution, she overcame challenges and made strides in her academic career as the first African American woman to be tenured at the college, as well as the founder and director of the Peace & Conflict Studies Certificate Program.
Religious Activism
In December 2015, Hawkins became embroiled in controversy after her public act of solidarity with members of the Islamic faith.
Donned in a hijab, Hawkins posted a photo of herself on Facebook with the caption that the New York Times called “theologically complex.”
It reads in part “I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity…I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
The post advocated for “embodied solidarity,” or a public display of agreement like the hijab that Hawkins wore. She also invited “all women into the narrative that is embodied…A large scale movement of Women in Solidarity with Hijabs.”
The public statement and phrase “same God” were understood as a breach of Hawkins’ statement of faith that she signed as part of her employment for the college.
Standing for Human Rights
For Hawkins who has held fast to the Christian faith her entire life, the college administration’s decision to place her on administrative leave and the outspoken commenters came as a shock.
Public scrutiny did not make the decision to stand by her post easy, but Hawkins reflected in a 2019 interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education,
“I get asked a lot whether I would have done anything differently. And the answer is no. I posted it from the perspective of saying, “This is who I am and who I want to be.”
In February 2016, the decision for Hawkins to “part ways” with Wheaton College was made in a confidential agreement.
The “Same God” film was created to provide an in-depth exploration of Hawkins’ journey and aired for the first time in 2019 on the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS).
Hawkins accepted a position at the University of Virginia following the aftermath and is currently an Assistant Professor of Politics & Religious Studies.
Larycia Hawkins continues to inspire students and activists around the world to stand in solidarity for human rights beyond religious affiliation.
