Plaque Referring To 'Savage Indians' Removed At Wheaton College

WHEATON, IL — Wheaton College has removed a plaque that referred to Indigenous people of Ecuador as "savage Indians," according to a letter the college's President Philip Ryken sent to students, staff and faculty. The plaque was taken down Tuesday.

Ryken wrote that the plaque, which was displayed in the lobby of the Christian college's Edman Chapel, was donated "in a heartfelt act of remembrance" to commemorate three alumni who were killed while doing missionary work in Ecuador in 1956. The plaque reads, in part,"For generations, all strangers were killed by these savage Indians."

In his letter, Ryken wrote, "Recently, students, faculty, and staff have expressed concern about language on the plaque that is now recognized as offensive. Specifically, the word 'savage' is regarded as pejorative and has been used historically to dehumanize and mistreat indigenous peoples around the world."

This school year, roughly a dozen students and staff members expressed concern about the plaque's wording, Wheaton College Director of Marketing Communications Joe Moore told Patch via email.

The plaque was donated to the college in 1957 by the Wheaton College class of 1949. Two members of that graduating class had been killed during the 1956 mission.

According to Ryken's letter, the school's Senior Administrative Cabinet plans to appoint a task force to work on rewording the plaque. The task force will be made up of an undergraduate and graduate student, a faculty historian, a faculty missiologist and a representative from Wheaton College's Alumni Association Board of Directors.

The reworded plaque is expected to be placed in the Edman Chapel lobby this summer.