A dogged reformer, Blanchard began his public campaign for abolitionism with the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1836, at the age of twenty-five.

[8] The confirmation came from the letters of Ezra Cook, one of Blanchard's relatives by marriage, who notes that the town and college's anti-slavery beliefs were so widely held that he, along with hundreds of other Wheaton residents, had seen and spoken with many fugitive slaves.

Buswell's tenure was characterized by expanding enrollment (from approximately 400 in 1925 to 1,100 in 1940), a building program, strong academic development, and a boom in the institution's reputation.

In 1940, this tension led to the firing of Buswell for being, as two college historians put it, "too argumentative in temperament and too intellectual in his approach to Christianity.

In the second half of the twentieth century, enrollment growth and more selective admissions accompanied athletic success, additional and improved facilities, and expanded programs.

Wheaton contends that it patterns its campus architecture after buildings at the University of Oxford which Blanchard admired on a trip to England in 1843.

[23] Throughout 2010-2020, Wheaton College ranked 18th in the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics' survey of baccalaureate-origin institutions of non-Science-and-Engineering doctorate recipients.

Graduates include conductor John Nelson, Grammy Award-winning American soprano Sylvia McNair, and Wendy White of the Metropolitan Opera.

The Artist Series frequently partners with Wheaton College Conservatory graduates, including the soprano Sylvia McNair and the conductor John Nelson.

Established in 1965 by professor of English Clyde S. Kilby, the Wade Center is 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.

The Wade Center has memorabilia of the Inklings, including C. S. Lewis's writing desk and a wardrobe from his childhood home constructed by his grandfather, widely thought to have inspired the Chronicles of Narnia series (although Westmont College also owns a wardrobe that once belonged to Lewis), Charles Williams's bookcases, J. R. R. Tolkien's writing desk where he wrote the entirety of The Hobbit and worked on The Lord of the Rings, and Pauline Baynes's original map of Narnia.

[27] Buswell Library's special collections also include the archived correspondence, manuscripts, articles, photos, and other papers of Madeleine L'Engle, the Newbery Medal-winning author of A Wrinkle in Time.

Participants in Wheaton-in-England, one of the most popular annual programs, take 2–3 courses in literature while studying in London and St. Anne's College, Oxford.

The HNGR program matches select students with six-month internships in the Third World, including opportunities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The college built the center in memory of over 1,600 former students and graduates who served in World War II and in honor of those 39 who gave their lives.

Beamer, a Wheaton alumnus, was part of a small group of passengers who stormed hijackers on United Flight 93, bringing down the plane in rural Pennsylvania during the September 11, 2001, attacks, and preventing it from reaching its target.

In addition, Wheaton College has many organizations on campus that range from helping the poor and needy in Chicago to the arts and improvisation.

[citation needed] Students and employees at Wheaton must sign a Community Covenant that classifies "homosexual behavior" as a form of immorality condemned by scripture which they must avoid.

[35] In 2014 Wheaton hired a gay Christian blogger, Julie Rodgers, as a ministry associate who could reach out to LGBT students while being committed to celibacy.

[36] The building was formally named the Billy Graham Center when it housed the famous evangelist's corporate records repository.

The men's basketball team won the first NCAA Small College National Championship in 1958, defeating Kentucky Wesleyan in the finals, 89–65.

[39][40] In 2008, Andy Studebaker was selected in the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles; he subsequently signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Later a group of students, alumni, and donors competing with both men's and women's boats; both crews are members of the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) in the Great Lakes Region.

Now known as King Arena, it is part of the Chrouser Sports Complex (CSC) and houses most of the college's athletic and fitness facilities.

[50] Wheaton's president said his "personal desire" to retain Hochschild, "a gifted brother in Christ", was outweighed by his duty to employ "faculty who embody the institution's Protestant convictions".

[51] In 2008, English professor Kent Gramm resigned after declining to give the college administration details of his pending divorce from his wife of 30 years.

The regulation, promulgated under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, would have required both institutions to provide access to emergency contraceptive drugs or pay fines.

[56] In December 2015, Wheaton College suspended a tenured professor of political science Larycia Hawkins, who wrote, "I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book.

In explaining the decision to place Hawkins on administrative leave, the college referred to "significant questions regarding the theological implications" of her comments.

Wheaton faced additional controversy when it issued a public statement condemning hazing but hired a third-party investigator to discredit Nagy's account of the incident.