<p>Holy Cross has everything my D wants and needs; LAC, location, academics, beautiful campus, etc. And it seems to be about the right range for her GPA and SAT's. The only problem is, we aren't Catholic. We are pretty liberal Protestants, and she leans more to the agnostic side. How uncomfortable do you think that would be?</p>
<p>Like all Jesuit colleges the Catholic services and activities are there for those who want them but many students operate in a purely secular fashion at the college. There are ministers in the Chaplain’s office who are Protestant and there are students from many faiths there including Muslims, Jews, etc.</p>
<p>2bizzee, I’m a current student at Holy Cross. I’m also agnostic. Honestly, I haven’t felt uncomfortable in the religious sense at all. The most religious acitivity I have <em>had</em> to see has been the welcoming mass which all freshmen are encouraged to attend, and convocation, which is held within one of the chapels. During Lent, no meat is served in the dining hall on Fridays (for us non Catholic folk), but that’s about it. </p>
<p>However, there has been no ‘forcing’ of religion here, and I think that as long as your daughter is willing to accept the strong Catholic traditions there shouldn’t be a problem fitting in at all.</p>
<p>With all of the media coverage about Obama’s appearance at Notre Dame, I wonder about an atmosphere of unfriendliness toward socially liberal viewpoints at Jesuit Universities. Jesuits have a reputation as intellectual and independent thinkers. How tolerant is the academic environment there now?</p>
<p>Notre Dame is not Jesuit and has a reputation for being a more traditional Catholic school than Jesuit colleges which are often crtiticized by conservative Catholics for being too secular and not adhering to the Church’s reachings and being too tolerant and open minded. In the fall of 2007 Holy Cross rented space to a conference that included two pro-abortion groups and the local bishop threatened to take away Holy Cross’s Catholic status but the HC president did not buckle.
[College’s</a> Catholic status threatened for hosting pro-abortion groups at conference](<a href=“http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10645]College’s”>http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10645)</p>
<p>Being a current student at Holy Cross I can say with confidence that a very tolerant environment exists. I, like, lophotrochozoa do not affiliate with any religion and have not encountered any problems or tension. I love Holy Cross!!! :)</p>