Organizers began reaching out to students last week by passing out informational fliers outside a chapel service. Soon after, Wheaton College President Philip Ryken sent an internal email to all students, faculty and staff that cited passages in the Bible that condemned homosexual behavior.

Alumni from Wheaton College have formed an organization to provide support for the gay community on the conservative Christian campus.

OneWheaton seeks to offer “a safe space” for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community, said group spokeswoman Kristin Winn. The LGBTQ community, according to Winn, is not widely accepted on campus because of the school’s official position against “homosexual behavior.”

Organizers began reaching out to students last week by passing out informational fliers outside a chapel service.

Soon after, Wheaton College President Philip Ryken sent an internal email to all students, faculty and staff that cited passages in the Bible that condemned homosexual behavior.

Ryken also wrote, “We stand with LGBTQ persons before God as persons created in God’s own image, and also as sinful persons in need of God’s forgiveness and love.”

Ryken added that the overall desire of OneWheaton to “affirm the full humanity and dignity of every human being, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity” is something the college agrees with.

Winn, a 2007 graduate, said the idea for the group began last year as media coverage focused on the rise in teen suicide in the gay community. As someone who struggled with her own sexual orientation at Wheaton, she often feared losing her support system if she came out.

She said OneWheaton has more than 300 alumni and students who have publicly pledged their support.

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