Lafayette was a last minute application decision for my daughter and I googled that they did have an active Hillel. Now that she has been accepted, I am trying to find more. My daughter is used to being in the minority, but I just want to make sure the Christian part of the school is not so strong that she feels uncomfortable.
I do believe it to be a secular institution, although there are religious communities available to those who would like to join.
I assumed so as well. But apparently they’ve held on to their religious affiliation but I would not consider Lafayette a Christian school.
I was raised Roman Catholic and attended Lafayette over 30 years ago. Christianity really wasn’t a thing on campus back then and I doubt much has changed since. I can only recall stepping into Colton Chapel twice - once during Freshman orientation and once for a memorial service for one of my profs. This isn’t something you need to be concerned about.
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It’s not a Christian school. It’s affiliated to a denomination in the way most older colleges are.
My D graduated from Lafayette a few years ago. It isn’t a Christian college (except historically as most older colleges are). The Hillel was active on campus when she was there and I imagine it still is.
FWIW she had a fantastic four years at Lafayette - if you have any questions about her expereince there feel free to reach out to me.
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There’s one main non-denominational Christian group on campus and then a Catholic group, but that’s the extent of how Christian Lafayette is. There’s an interfaith council and an interfaith podcast. In non-Covid times, there’s a weekly Bagel Brunch at the Hillel House. I’d say there’s a pretty large Jewish population, but this is coming from an out-of-state student who lives in the Bible Belt.