[mcmama]

How do college students practice their religion once they are away from home? So many college environments encourage lifestyles that are not in keeping with the values of a religious upbringing. Do other students respect the religious student? Or are they hostile to anything having to do with religion?

[seeemilywrite]

There are TONS of college ministries out there. TONS. Some of them are through the college themselves. the surrounding churches in the colleges area usually have pretty extensive college minstries as well. I used to go to church on wednesdays during college. the church offered free dinner. Free home cooked food? Draws college kids in like no other.

[MJ7]

My brother went to a Lutheran collage. Things weren't an issue for him. I actually met other Christians when I went to college so it wasn't a problem for me to remain as I was.

[workingdad]

Can't speak about the experience of others, except for my friends, most of whom were not especially religious to begin with. Me, I actually attended church regularly for about the first six months of college, which was more than I'd done through high school, when I went very rarely (I used to pretend to still be asleep on Sunday mornings after I delivered papers, and my parents pretended I really was and left me there). Then, due to hearing about two friends' relationship that was ending because of religious differences (and my own, somewhat odd, situation regarding a friend of a different faith than mine), I decided religion was too needlessly divisive and stopped. I have different reasons today for being not involved with religion, but those were the issues when I was 18.

[mcmama]

I posted the original question because my son had two different experiences at two different colleges. At SUNY Purchase, he found that most students and many professors were offended that he had a religion at all. He sat in classrooms decorated with slogans deriding religion in general and Christianity in particular. He asked to be excused from a midterm which was scheduled outside of the normal time for Good Friday, to suit the professor's convenience. Again, hostility and derision. Nobody got that this meant anything to him.

One campus ministry, mostly fundamentalist, which does not fit him, and most of the activity was to provide transportation to area churches who could have cared less if college students came or not. He often came home on weekends to go to church and to avoid the druggie atmosphere.

He transferred to a small Catholic college, even though he is not Catholic, and what a difference! Tolerance abounds, even for those practicing non traditional religions or no religion at all.

Just wondered if the "religion is stupid and responsible for all the ills in this world and so are you" attitude is pervasive or just confined to SUNY Purchase

[LisaDK]

I just graduated from college about a year ago. I didn't have any problems with people being rude or mean or anything like that to me. I am (and was) a faithful Christian and I was very active; people knew what I was doing. I was in Texas though, if that makes a difference. I haven't really found that attitude toward religion in many people (although you do come across it occasionally - especially in Austin where I live now). I was attending a state university.

[workingdad]

Originally Posted by mcmama

At SUNY Purchase, he found that most students and many professors were offended that he had a religion at all. He sat in classrooms decorated with slogans deriding religion in general and Christianity in particular. He asked to be excused from a midterm which was scheduled outside of the normal time for Good Friday, to suit the professor's convenience. Again, hostility and derision. Nobody got that this meant anything to him.
One campus ministry, mostly fundamentalist, which does not fit him, and most of the activity was to provide transportation to area churches who could have cared less if college students came or not. He often came home on weekends to go to church and to avoid the druggie atmosphere.
He transferred to a small Catholic college, even though he is not Catholic, and what a difference! Tolerance abounds, even for those practicing non traditional religions or no religion at all.
Just wondered if the "religion is stupid and responsible for all the ills in this world and so are you" attitude is pervasive or just confined to SUNY Purchase

First let me stop laughing. there. I'm not surprised about what you said regarding SUNY Purchase -- it's an artsy college, and I suspect many of the faculty are Old School leftists who do think religion is evil. Speaking as someone who taught at CUNY institutions for years, and as someone who believes in the separation of church and state, I can speak of my own frustrations at students who could not attend scheduled exams due to religious holidays. The CUNY system closes for most anyway, and it's not always easy to reschedule or do make-ups. I worked very hard to avoid scheduling exams on holidays not taken off by CUNY, but it was not easy. I will also say this: if a student tells me the day she sees the syllabus, "hey, I can't be here," I will be very flexible. But if someone leaves me an e-mail twenty-four hours before the exam about a religious holiday, I get mad. That's not about religion; that's about courtesty and responsibility. Whatever my personal feelings about religion -- and I have them, as you might be able to discern from reading my work -- I don't let that affect my responses to students.
Funny your son should find tolerance at a Catholic college: it's good that the place is showing the meaning of "catholic" with a lower-case "c" too! I now teach at a Catholic university, and there was an administrator who was removed from his post for writing a letter to the editor, criticisizing the Church's recent policies regarding homosexuals and the priesthood.
Interestingly there have been recent articles about many religious institutions now contemplating requiring all faculty be of the same faith. Wheaton College famously fired a professor because he'd recently converted to Catholicism shorly before accepting a position!
I should note that while the institution of Catholicism tends to be very rigid, many Catholics are in fact tolerant. I bet there have been more marriages of Catholics to non-Catholics than any other such mixed-religion marriages. I could be wrong, and if anyone has numbers, pass em on.
In short (lol) every campus is different. Some are pluralist and tolerant, others are not. If your son's religion is important to him, then he should find a place that makes that okay. Glad he's found one.

[writerchick]

I've told my daughter to choose a college that has a strong congregation of her religion, because she is devout, and I think that it could really make or break the experience for her. I don't want her feeling like an outcast for not partying, etc...and sometimes all it takes is a small social circle of people who keep the same standards so she can relax a little when she's with them and not feel like she's always having to explain herself.

[LisaDK]

Originally Posted by writerchick

I've told my daughter to choose a college that has a strong congregation of her religion, because she is devout, and I think that it could really make or break the experience for her. I don't want her feeling like an outcast for not partying, etc...and sometimes all it takes is a small social circle of people who keep the same standards so she can relax a little when she's with them and not feel like she's always having to explain herself.

A strong congregation can definately make a difference. I was part of a very strong congregation with a strong college group while I was at college. I never was pressured to drink, etc because I had surrounded myself with other people who felt the same way.

[writerchick]

Same with me. I went to a university where most people were of my same faith, and the ones who weren't obviously understood the code of conduct. Although I wouldn't have wanted to stay there forever because of the lack of diversity, it was a nice break for a while.