As everyone else has mentioned, it is up to you. There are lots of excellent colleges so you don’t need to apply to any with active religious affiliation if that is a dealbreaker for you.
Duke still maintains ties to the Methodist church through its graduate-only divinity school, but yes, otherwise it’s pretty areligious.
I was genuinely surprised to see Bibles offered to seniors at graduation because you tend to forget about the Religio part of Duke’s Eruditio et Religio.
Nothing wrong with that at all. For Mormons, we believe what we believe, but we don’t need to go to BYU. I personally hate BYU, even though I’m a fairly religious individual. I went to a state university. Just find a school that fits your style and vibe. Seriously, it gets creepy and bizarre when religion is the topic of EVERY conversation. I like to keep that part more discreet, because different people believe different things differently.
Exactly - chances are a large number of affiliates colleges will not have any mandates at all for you to participate in any religious activities.
Not at all what you know from your high school!
I suggest you do not generalize for the above stated reason, as you might accidentally rule out what otherwise could have been a great college for you.
I’m not the least religious - but I look at religions as very early philosophical exercises to develop a cooperative framework for the betterment of humanity as a whole.
Consequently, I have no concerns if one of the betterments was for some religious orders to offer and promote general/scientific education to the masses. I’m fine with a college possibly applying certain moral standards to itself, as long as the academics are free from influence and students are free to choose any participation.
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Frankly, there are thousands of colleges. We all cut - some kids cut small or large. Some cut rural or urban.
Some, like my kids, cut no merit aid schools.
If the student doesn’t want a school with any forced religion, it’s not unreasonable to cut schools with any hint of religious affiliation.
Every kid in American at college perhaps didn’t apply to what might have been a right school - so if they miss the perfect fit, they’re likely no different than most every other kid…since there’s likely tens or even hundreds of perfect fits for most everyone.
So I personally disagree with this sentiment.
I think what digital dad and I are trying to say is that lists of religious schools are sometimes misleading (see list below) when they characterize schools like the top 5 on the list as meaningfully Christian. I think that categorization is somewhat historical…certainly #4 on the list is VERY liberal.
#1 and #2 are not, IMO, primarily known as being religious-affiliated schools…
Can’t post the link; it’s a certain (forbidden in CC) college website’s list of “Best Christian Colleges in America” listed as
Duke
Emory
Davidson
Macalester
SMU
Google it if needed.
Note that “religious” does not always have to mean “conservative”. For example, some religious organizations may emphasize the charitable aspects far more than the (socially) conservative stuff that people tend to associate with religion these days.
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Sometimes the affiliation is obvious (Catholic University). Sometimes it’s less so (University of Dayton - also Roman Catholic)
yeah- you’re looking at niche - and i put that above - there are schools like Duke and Syracuse, that had their starts in religion - but they are not religious.
I think the OP can suss that out though…but to say a school like Dayton or LMU or Gtown should be on a list…even though they have Jewish and other students…it would make the OP uncomfortable…so if they want to yank them off…that’s fine.
They asked - is it unreasonable - and the answer is no - it’s not.
You are right in general…I meant to the OPs question of chapel requirement and active engagement with the religion of origin, Mac likely doesn’t belong on a list to avoid.
Religious affiliation can still have a noticeable impact on campus life even without required services, though, especially for students living on campus (e.g. housing and visitation restrictions, whether LGBT groups are permitted on campus, etc.).
To take birth control as an example:
Catholic universities across the United States say they would tell student groups distributing condoms on campus to stop and would potentially threaten disciplinary action, just as Boston College did earlier this month.
At BC, officials sent a letter to a student group that organized condom pickup spots on campus, citing the university’s mission as a Catholic institution and demanding that they cease or face possible discipline. The letter provoked angry reaction from some students and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which said it might pursue legal action.
Officials at Catholic colleges and universities — including the University of Notre Dame, Georgetown University, the University of Dayton, Providence College, and the Catholic University of America — said that their policies similarly do not allow students to distribute condoms on campus and that students who do so could face disciplinary action.
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posted in wrong thread
That’s very interesting and certainly for Georgetown unexpected, given part of what we were told was how supportive of LGBTQ+ rights they were. I know it’s a different issue, but you’d kind of think if they’re 21st century on one thing they’ll be on others. Anyway - again it underscores that one should ideally visit the schools, and ask questions about what are dealbreaker issues for OP.
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Emory is also still affiliated with the United Methodist Church, even though tour guides and some other incorrectly trained staff tried to tell us otherwise on multiple occasions. That being said, over 15% of the student body is Jewish and Hillel is one of the largest student groups on campus.
American University is also affiliated with the UMC.
While it’s obviously reasonable to rule out schools based on religious affiliation, not all affiliated schools look the same and should be considered individually.
I think OP has left.
To where?
They last read 9 hrs ago, more recent than your post.
But if the school has a religious affiliation, trust that they will follow it. The Jesuit schools do have a mission and some religious requirements. They welcome everyone, and do want a diverse student body, but they do have religious symbols around campus, are run by SJ priests, set their calendars around holidays as they see fit.
I would not worry about the 2 or 3 religious course requirement. Most find those very easy and enjoyable to complete because there is such a wide variety of courses to choose from. It is the atmosphere at the school I’d worry about - the big cathedral on campus, the religious symbols, the faculty (visiting or permanent).
Many catholic schools are just what student is looking for - size, courses, basketball team. There can also be scholarships. But there are lots of schools out there so no need to compromise on this issue.
OK - my bad.