<p>Hi mini:</p>
<p>Did you mean Earlham was "actually quite religious"?</p>
<p>Yup.......</p>
<p>Hi mini, </p>
<p>I am not too familiar with Earlham. I just said what I said based on what I've heard about it. Ohio Wesleyan and Kenyon College are definitely non-religious schools. Quite liberal actually. Only the following three Wesleyans are non-religious: Illinois Wesleyan, Ohio Wesleyan and Wesleyan (Connect). All of the other universities that have Wesleyan in their name are actually quite religious. But not the three ones above.</p>
<p>As others said, it depends on the school. Some colleges will require that you attend chapel. Others require some sort of religious studies course. Some make "non-members" feel quite welcome. Others do not. </p>
<p>Some examples of schools that are "religious" but that don't make outsiders feel unwelcome, and that actually have large populations of "non-members", include Boston College, Fordham University and Brandeis College. So you can certainly find schools that are based in a religion and feel welcome there. But, as with any other college decision, look carefully at the culture of the school. Religious affiliation certainly does influence a culture.</p>
<p>I'm not sure those are good examples. Boston College is very heavily Catholic. Brandeis is very heavily Jewish. I assume that both are welcoming of others, but both certainly will be places where the dominant religion impacts the campus culture.</p>
<p>I think this is an issue where you really have to evaluate each school on a case by case basis. There are so many permutations...both in terms of formal involvement with organized religion and/or prevailing campus culture.</p>
<p>As for specific schools, you asked about Bryn Mawr. Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore were all founded by Quakers. However, there is zero impact by religion at the schools today -- except for the fact that some of the Quaker-inspired traditions (such as governing by concensus, emphasis on academics, etc.) have shaped, and continue to shape, the three colleges.</p>
<p>When she posted about "church affiliated schools", I was thinking of schools that are still quite overtly and significantly a part of that religion. So I was thinking Notre Dame, Fordham, Boston College, Brandeis, BYU and other places like that, rather than schools that were founded by a religious group but have moved away from that. </p>
<p>I was thinking of Brandeis and BC as being at one end of that church-affiliated spectrum, as opposed to some other schools. At BC and Brandeis, the majority of students are from the member religion. However, a significant proportion of the student body is not. </p>
<p>My friends who aren't Jewish, for example, who've attended Brandeis really liked it. Although the majority of the student body is Jewish, the school didn't feel, to them, as if it were overly influenced by any one religion. Of course the religion had an influence on the culture of the school, as is natural, but not so much that they felt at all uncomfortable or excluded. On the other hand is [ETA: school named snipped]. It's actually an excellent school, academically, but the culture there is much more influenced by its religious basis than Brandeis, and non-members or "rebels" who go there have told me that they ended up feeling uncomfortable.</p>
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Ohio Wesleyan and Kenyon College are definitely non-religious schools. Quite liberal actually.
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<p>It's important to remember that not all Christians are conservative. Some Christians are progressive, pacificistic, concerned for the environment and social justice, etc. It's one of those things that has to be researched at each individual school in order to guage the effect religion has on campus culture.</p>
<p>Not sure what it means but Liberty University is growing like mad.</p>