St. Olaf is definitely one of my top schools, but I know that the school isn’t very racially diverse and it’s more religious than a lot of other schools. I have very liberal beliefs, and have grown up overseas, so I’m not sure if I would end up feeling alienated.
Are there any perspectives from current students (or alumni) about how liberal/accepting the environment at St. Olaf is? How far left or right do you think the campus leans politically? What is it like for LGBT students? What about for students who aren’t Lutheran (or Christian)?
Any advice helps, and please be honest about what you really think.
I am going to be following this thread. I have an atheist kid interested in a music program and I’d love that to be in a LAC setting. We’ll be visiting St. Olaf very soon.
I will say I live in Minnesota in the twin cities and know many former Ole’s. None of them were Lutheran and most were not religious. I know 2 people from the LBGQ community who had a great experience there. 1 of them in particular built up all sorts of professional connections - he is now probably late 20’s in age now. Actually, I was telling my husband last night that Ole grads seemed like the most connected college community in Minnesota.
My daughter is a student at St. Olaf and would describe herself as liberal and atheist and fits right in and finds the overall environment welcoming and accepting. (However, I do know of at least one conservative leaning student who chose to transfer after a year.) I believe my daughter enjoys St. Olaf’s spiritual community without feeling pressure to join in. She’s also thrilled to be a member of the St. Olaf Choir this year.
The Ole grads I know are intelligent, curious, open minded and kind.
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Great inquiry, @gracechr! I totally agree with both @bwcafan and @MusakParent. The strength and support of the Ole alumni network was definitely a reason my son chose to become an Ole! Plus the music and theater. Plus the incredible study abroad opportunities. Plus the Conversations programs (Google it). Plus the lovely town of Northfield. Etc, etc…
It was not his top choice, initially, only because it is quite close to where he grew up, and he was looking for more of a change. However, the more he learned about St Olaf, the more he came to believe it was great place to spend the next 4 years. He will be starting in September, and is also a liberal atheist. He visited the campus a few times, since we are from MN, and he found the environment to be very welcoming. They are dealing with some issues raised by students of color, and he/I think that’s a very good things. St. Olaf students and staff like to think of themselves as being very open and kind, but there are always a few bad apples who can cause difficulties for other students (usually due to their own insecurities, I find!). Anyway, St Olaf is really working hard to attract a wider range of applicants. My son’s roommate is coming from Vietnam, and I’ve met several Indian nationals who are headed to MN too.
Good luck on your college search! Feel free to send me a message if you need info on any other schools in the Midwest or Pacific NW!
So are there any Christian students at this school? Seems like they’re the ones who’d feel out of place.
There was an article published in the student-run Manitou Messenger about the backlash against conservative students in November 2016 following the election. I’m trying to find it, but it looks like their website is currently down. The article seemed to indicate that liberal students feel very at-home on the campus, despite its religious roots. Additionally, a St. Olaf student left a racist note on someone else’s windshield which sparked days of demonstration and protest, even though the hateful note turned out to be a hoax. PM me for a link to the Washington Post article.
@Muad_dib Many Christians are liberal. I am one of them, as are many of the students at St. Olaf. The New Testament is pretty much textbook liberal ideology. The Trump Presidential win took many by surprise and, as it did in many places, caused some strong feelings on the St. Olaf Campus. My son has friends who just finished their freshman year there, and experienced it.
I’ll be completely honest and say that there were hard feelings against some of the students who strongly supported Trump, since as a candidate he was stated many controversial and demeaning (to put it nicely) things about many people in our country. I don’t think there would have been that sort of “backlash” as it was put by @Studious99, had Senator McCain or Mitt Romney won in 2008 and 2012, as they did not stoke people’s worst instincts. But none the less, no student should have felt threatened by those with differing views. My son spoke with the St. Olaf Democrats at the Activities Fair during the Accepted Students weekend, and he said that they and the Republican student organization are working to create a forum for more productive dialog in the future.
Regarding the strange and disconcerting racial charged fake note incident, which occurred near the end of the school year: The investigation into the initial report brought to light to many students, staff and alumni (I have many friends who went there in years past) that there are students of color who have genuinely experienced racist behavior while at St. Olaf. It seemed to be most prevalent in among the student athletes, but I am sure there are others who have been the victim of rude or racist behavior as well. As I said before, there are jerks on every campus, but at least the St Olaf administration is finally owning up to the fact that not everyone on the St. Olaf campus is as nice to each other as they would like to believe. Again, as I said, overall, after touring about 20 colleges with my two sons, I found St. Olaf to be one of the most warm and welcoming campuses we visited. Hopefully, by having to deal with these 2 campus controversies, they will make changes and enlighten everyone that they can make life in the St Olaf community even better. As they say, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
The best way to find out if St. Olaf, or any campus for that matter, is right for you, is to go there, spend the night and talk to the enrolled students. Good luck, @gracechr !
Here are some St Olaf websites that demonstrate the work administration and staff at St. Olaf are doing to address these issues:
https://wp.stolaf.edu/dii/
http://institute.stolaf.edu/
My D is a current Ole; she is a liberal atheist. I posted some concrete info about how St. Olaf’s religious affiliation affects student life as experienced by my D here:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20134934/#Comment_20134934
Regarding Christianity and conservatism. As someone else mentioned, “Christian” does not equal socially or politically conservative. St Olaf and ECLA would be identified with Progressive Christianity (google that and read the wikipedia page). For example, St Olaf’s Lutheran student congregation has been a ReconcilingWorks congregation for 20+ years. This is a very liberal/social justice focused type of congregation that works towards full integration of LGBT into congregational life. This is actually probably most important to know if you are Christian and come from a Evangelical Christian church. St Olaf may tilt too much towards Progressive Christianity for your tastes (or your parents’).
Thank you @morningside95 @liska21 , that information definitely helps a lot!!
I went to Olaf and I would say it was very liberal. There are conservative students but they are in the minority. Very LGBTQ friendly and open minded. I think I read somewhere once that 1/3 of students considered themselves Christian as freshmen. Not sure if that’s true anymore.