Dozens of students demonstrated in favour of threatened Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins on the opening day of term yesterday.

The students braved biting winds on the steps of the college chapel, reports RNS.

Hawkins committed to wearing a hijab during Advent in solidarity with Muslims and was attacked for her statement in a Facebook post that Muslims and Christians "worship the same God" and are "people of the book". A theological firestorm arose, with Wheaton accusing her of failing to adhere to its statement of faith.

She has won wide support from within and outside the college community, with several past and serving staff speaking in her favour. The students carried signs signs reading, "Academic Rigor = Academic Freedom." Others chanted "Reinstate Doc Hawk".

Hawkins wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday: "Friends, Embodied Solidarity is not demonizing others in defense of me.

"Please pray for my Provost, Stan Jones, whose health is already compromised. I am certain that the stress of this situation exacerbates his condition.

"Recall, I donned the hijab out of solidarity. In the spirit of embodied solidarity, those of you who are inclined to wish ‪#‎WheatonCollege‬ and its associated members ill should shower Wheaton College and its students, staff, faculty, and administration with thoughts and prayers and actions that emanate love, grace, peace, and if necessary, forgiveness."

In an interview with the Chronicle of Higher Education, Hawkins – Wheaton's first ever tenured black professor – said: "A hermeneutic of suspicion has followed me since I began at Wheaton, and it all revolves around my evangelical fitness, and I can't explain where that comes from."

She said she had struggled to understand why she has not seemed evangelical enough for some people in the Wheaton community. "I get evangelicalism, not from the outside but from the inside. But Wheaton has its own version. I call it evangelicalism on steroids."

Further protests are expected this week.