<p>D is a liberal Californian and isn't interested in a school with a strongly religious and/or conservative student body. I've read that COE is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Is that merely an historical connection, or is there still an active affiliation?
Collegeboard.com lists a number of clubs including Christian Fellowship and Christian Athletes and I haven't found anything to suggest that there are equivalent groups for non-Christian religions, also no mention of LGBT groups.
Final question - how big is the Greek scene?</p>
<p>Thanks for any help...</p>
<p>Fred Jackson went there! They mention it during every Bills game</p>
<p>Since religious affiliation isn’t a criteria in admissions for Coe College, I wouldn’t take the affiliation very seriously (Duke is affiliated with the Methodist church). I would only be concerned if the school takes religion as a criteria for admission. It seems that greek life is popular (says 17% of students are in greek life)</p>
<p>A couple of points. I grew up in Cedar Rapids, and still have family leaving there. I’m familiar with the campus, but don’t know that much about current student life at Coe. I work at a LAC that is “affiliated” with the Presbyterian Church. In this case, that simply means the school is listed in various Presbyterian publications as being a “Presbyterian college” - more for advertisement than any real religious affiliation. There is absolutely no other connection with the church, nor does the church have any control at all over the college. I imagine the situation with Coe is the same. The school’s mission statement has no mention of religion. I doubt that Coe is filled with conservative students, but since a majority will be from the Midwest, they may be a bit more moderate on some issues than a liberal Californean. The list of student clubs on the Coe website doesn’t mention non-Christian organizations, but who can tell what such groups as Hi-cockers or CESAW are all about. Plus, there is Amnesty International, Asia Club, Multicultural Fusion Club, and others. If 17% of the students are Greek, that means 83% aren’t. I’m not sure less than 1 in 5 defines “popular”.</p>
<p>In short, Coe is neither religious nor conservative, and Greeks are there, but don’t seem to play a major role on campus. There are likely more important considerations: location, cost, size, academics, etc.</p>
<p>JustaGuy, at Clemson, only 20% of students at Clemson are involved in Greek Life. However, they have a big presence on campus since the most social people are in fraternities/sororities. It varies from college to college and from what I’ve heard, it may be a big deal at Coe. Of course you are right, 83% of people aren’t in greek life but for some people, a Greek-dominated (feeling) campus may be uncomfortable for them.</p>