<p>Any updates from anyone out there?? </p>
<p>That Society for Creative Anachronism sounds awesome, and while my son loves playing football and basketball and would definitely get involved with the intramural sports at Alabama, he has been asking to sign up for fencing classes before he graduates and that society is definitely something he would be interested in - what fun! As far as nerds thriving, every nerd I have known thrives anywhere - a real nerd does not spend much time worrying about becoming less nerdy. Nerds rule the world, don’t they? My son, if he chooses Alabama, is willing to take his nerdy self to Tuscaloosa and wear the polos and Sperrys (he already does that), but he has zero interest in the Greek life, and he has already drawn a line in the sand against Bama Bangs :)</p>
<p>Amy…what updates are you looking for? Slippy’s son is doing very well. </p>
<p>10% Catholic is very low considering the general population is more like 25%. I would point out though that EWTN the ‘Catholic’ media network is based in Irondale, AL. Not sure how far that is from Tuscaloosa, but if my S was going to 'Bama, we would probably make the trip.</p>
<p>@torveaux</p>
<p>Although 10% may be low, it’s actually quite high for the South in general (not counting LA) which can be 3%. There are “Catholic pockets” within the state of AL…HSV, B’ham, Tuscaloosa, Cullman, Montgomery, and Mobile. As someone who came from Southern California where the Catholic population can be 33% in some areas, it was shocking to realize that there are entire counties in the South that do not have a Catholic Church. </p>
<p>As mentioned above, there is a parish church, St. Francis of Assisi, right on campus property. That parish has a brand new church after out-growing the old one. The old church is being modified into a larger Catholic Student Center (to be named the Nick Saban Catholic Student Center). There also is a huge parish, Holy Spirit, a couple of miles away with both an elementary school and high school. </p>
<p>EWTN and the Shrine are about 90 minutes away from Ttown (they’re in Irondale and Hanceville, respectively). Both are an interesting visit. The Shrine is very popular amongst people of various Christian faiths. When I’ve been there, there have been buses from all sorts of churches there bringing visitors. </p>
<p>Thanks! I feel you on the differences. I have lived in So Cal and other areas with large Catholic populations. Southern Catholic churches can sometimes feel like a hybrid of non-denominational mega churches with a basic Catholic liturgy. S1 wanted to go to Notre Dame or another, more Catholic, private college but the money was not going to be there and so few of them even have Engineering. </p>