Everything about Director of Multicultural Development Rodney Sisco ’84 was large.

There was his towering frame and imposing figure—“particularly good-sized,” by his own description. At his funeral, Sisco’s roommate and best man, Brad Sommerfeld ’84, joked that his faith was strengthened during the two years that they roomed together because Sisco had the top bunk.

There was his sonorous voice, which he shared with Men’s Glee Club as a student—a voice he later used to lead worship at church with his wife, Hasana Pennant Sisco ’86, to call the Gospel Choir to attention, and, in 2010, to announce the beginning of the presidential inauguration ceremony for Dr. Philip Ryken ’88.

There was his broad, easy smile, and there were his legendary, all-enveloping hugs.

There was also Sisco’s expansive vision for diversity and inclusion in Christian higher education that sustained his exceptional 34-year tenure at Wheaton College.

He went home to be with the Lord on December 30, 2018, after a five-month battle with cancer.

“Rodney Sisco was a faithful, courageous, gentle, joyful servant of Christ on the campus of Wheaton College,” Ryken says. “He is uniquely irreplaceable in terms of his impact on student life. He persistently and singularly embodied the vision of Christ-centered diversity in a way that was legible to students, faculty, and staff on campus.”

Dr. Samuel Shellhamer, retired Vice President of Student Development, remembers developing a relationship with Sisco, then an exuberant freshman, in 1980. “His faith and his joyful spirit were much, much bigger than his physical stature,” Shellhamer says. “For many Caucasian students who had never had a significant relationship with a person of color, he was the first person they got to know. It was not always easy, and he and I talked about that. But he had a very positive impact.”

After graduation, Sisco worked in Admissions before transitioning into Student Development, where he blossomed.

“Rodney had wonderful relational skills, and he could relate to anybody,” Shellhamer says. “He was able to confront issues. He was able to speak the truth in love. He was also very effective in not trying to be the lone person trying to resolve a situation. He used a collaborative, team approach in trying to address issues that would come up on campus.”

For many Wheaton students of all ethnicities, Sisco served as a spiritual and professional mentor, a surrogate father, a compassionate counselor, and a humble, optimistic change agent.

Tuwa Karnley M.A. ’20 served as a graduate assistant in the Office of Multicultural Development last year. “Rodney would talk about the vision a lot,” she says. “I think it just oozed out of him, whether he was literally saying ‘this is our vision’ or in the way he thought about situations. He was always bringing it back to, ‘We want to have everybody flourish, we want everybody to learn from one another, and we really want a true shalom body of Christ.’”

Dr. Ray Lewis, associate professor of biology, served with Sisco on the Faculty Diversity Committee and on the Multicultural Affairs Subcommittee that preceded it.

“Working together on those committees gave me an opportunity to learn from his example,” he says. “Rodney’s demeanor spoke volumes every time. He was gentle and firm—not going to waver when it comes to confronting issues of discrimination—but such an affable person, who always had respect for ‘the other.’ He was very much a co-worker, a friend, and an advocate.”

Lewis remembers a workshop exercise in which Sisco divided participants into two groups, then allowed one group to discriminate against the other based on a trait beyond participants’ control.“

That was particularly formative for me because Rodney took us to a very brave space,” Lewis says. “He helped me understand the issues of racial and ethnic discrimination, yet he made it safe to do that. That was something he was able to do and to make it work.”

In addition to his leadership on campus, Sisco provided national leadership on diversity in Christian higher education. He served on the Racial Harmony Commission of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU); the Board of the National Christian Multicultural Student Leaders Conference Inc.; and on the Diversity Task Force of the Association of Christians in Student Development, which recognized him with its Jane Higa Award for Racial Harmony.

Dr. Pete Menjares, provost of Vanguard University of Southern California and a former CCCU Senior Fellow for Diversity, says Sisco provided a model for him to emulate when he was new to the world of Christian higher education in the 90s. “He just had a wisdom about him, a confidence and a calm, that, in this work, especially in the early days—which were very heated—stood apart.”

He remembers collaborating with Sisco on a diversity audit for another Christian college. “He was so profound in his thinking, so sharp in his analysis of the culture of that particular college, and very much in touch with the student experience of both students of color and white students,” Menjares says. “He offered incredible counsel and guidance on how this college should proceed in navigating racial division and in possibilities for racial reconciliation and coming together interculturally there.”

In a field that is known for high rates of turnover, Sisco offered a rare model of longevity. That allowed him to offer support, guidance, and a listening ear to other diversity professionals at Christian colleges.

“Rodney is one of the few who has remained in one institution, and has built a legacy,” says Dr. Glen Kinoshita, director of Imago Dei Initiatives at Biola University. Kinoshita and Sisco met in the 1990s when diversity work in Christian higher education was in its infancy. Over the decades, the two partnered on what are now national-level conferences and initiatives.

“He understood how biblically rooted this work is, and that’s an anchor—something that grounds you,” Kinoshita says. “He was able to see the spiritual and biblical truth of what he was trying to do. His love for students was just so evident, and he loved his community, and that allowed him to continue his work with conviction. And I think the Wheaton community loved and supported him.”

“That’s why he stayed, and why he has a throng of people, or a community of witnesses, that call him their mentor.”

Crystal Cartwright ’08, associate director of student activities, describes herself as one of those many mentees—first as a student, and then as a co-worker. “When Rodney Sisco left us his shoes to fill, they were large enough for all of us,” she says. “He is counting on each of us to protect and continue the journey he started. We may have to stuff the shoes he left, but I believe we are ready. Because we owe it to Rodney. Because we loved Rodney.”