And I’ll say again that only the student can decide if it will bother him/her to be in a Catholic environment. The religion won’t be pushed, no attempts to convert, no exclusion (except for the Catholic things like communion and getting married in the church on campus). I have a very good friend who is Jewish and I would not suggest she send her children to ANY Catholic university, even BC or Georgetown, because it would bother HER. She wouldn’t like all the icons and the calendar that is set based on the Catholic holidays and holy days (Jewish students can be excused for their holy days, but that wouldn’t be good enough for my friend). She wouldn’t like that prays are said before some school events, like convocation or graduation, even if optional for some students.
One can join in, one can ignore the religious aspects (except the required courses), or one can spend 4 years being mad about it or trying to change it. Don’t fight it. If you can’t accept that there is going to be religion at these schools, don’t go
There is an article on the Loyola-Marymount site about the Jewish community at the school. Interesting. About 5% of students participate and enjoy their college and religious experiences because they are open to new things.