I was looking into Scranton and I think it might be a good fit for me, but I’m concerned about the level of acceptance by the students for gay students. I know it’s a Jesuit university, but I was just wondering how much I will enjoy it there as a lesbian (and atheist, although I’m not very vocal about religion at all anyway, I’m mostly concerned about being gay, because I AM vocal about that haha)
Hi! I’m a recent Scranton grad. Not gay myself, but I had a number of friends within the LGBTQ community at Scranton. It’s pretty welcoming, from what I saw and heard. One person in my friend group transitioned from female to male our senior year and seemed to do okay with that. I know other folks who are bi, genderqueer, gay, etc. I don’t recall my friends ever saying they felt threatened because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and I think they overall felt accepted.
Of course, as you point out, Scranton’s Jesuit/Catholic. It’s definitely a liberal leaning campus but it also has a strong Catholic identity. A lot of students were raised Catholic but are accepting. It’s also not a particularly politically active campus (you won’t see protests or anything). That said, it’s in Northeast PA, which as a whole tends to be more conservative. I graduated a couple of years ago so I can’t say for sure whether you would see the rare MAGA hat around. You’d have to visit when school’s in session to see how comfortable you feel.
I really loved the Jesuit focus on social justice. Actually in the fall I went to a big event in DC called the Ignatian Teach-In for Justice, which brings together Jesuit colleges, high schools, and other organizations for a weekend focusing on social justice. Lots of talks, discussions, leadership development, tips for activism, etc. I was delighted to see a number of breakout sessions focusing on the LGBT community, including one on how Jesuit schools could be more inclusive. One of the people who led introductions and organized things was an openly gay Scranton grad student who was in undergrad with me. He briefly spoke to the crowd about how important this annual event has been for his development as a person and an activist. So if you’re into social justice, that’s definitely a big thing at Scranton, regardless of religion.
As far as being an atheist goes, I think you’ll be fine. Everyone is required to take 2 theology classes, 2 philosophy, and an additional 1 of either. I would wait to take theology until your second semester so you have a chance to find out who the good professors are. The classes are definitely academic in nature. There are probably a couple of conservative old men still around but many other profs welcome respectful discussion and debate. I went to 12 years of Catholic school before going to Scranton, and the theology classes were much better than all the years of religion classes before them. I actually really enjoyed theology. I have atheist friends who were fine with the classes. I will say that we had one class with a very liberal Jesuit that involved general spirituality. It was an optional class. One student in our class was the kind who picked arguments just for the sake of arguing, even though his points weren’t always well formed (I was in many other non-theology classes with him so I saw this happen elsewhere too). He was also an atheist and he got into it a bit with the Jesuit one day. You could tell the prof was losing his patience. But I think this would be the case with any professors anywhere you go, in any subject.
In terms of concrete resources on campus:
- There’s an LGBTQ club, Scranton Alliance for Equality.
- At least as of a few years ago, RAs/professors/staff had rainbow decals on their doors indicating they were allies and could be a safe resource for LGBT students.
- Scranton offers a number of retreats at its own retreat house by a lake about 30 minutes from campus. Some are more social, others more spiritual, but you can get a lot out of them even if you aren’t religious. It’s a nice way just to have deeper conversations with other students and form deeper connections. The retreats offered vary each year but my senior year they did have one for LGBT students. It was the first time it was offered so I don’t know if that continues to be offered. If it isn’t currently offered, that would be due to how many students attended the retreat, not because of a bias against the LGBT community (they sometimes have to cancel retreats with low attendance because of the cost of food, maintenance staff, etc. at the retreat house).
- A number of my LGBT friends got involved with the women’s center and multicultural center on campus. They’re run by Justine Johnson, a truly fantastic human being from my interactions with her. They do a number of things, including organizing a big event each year for assault and abuse awareness + victims called Take Back the Night. If you decide to visit campus, especially when school’s in session, it might be worth checking out the women’s center to see if you can connect with her and/or the students who staff it.
Overall I would say that Scranton is a welcoming campus. Of course, a bigger school/non-religiously-affiliated school/school in a major city would likely have a bigger, more active LGBT community and a more diverse student population.
I would recommend connecting with Justine at the women’s center (justine.johnson@scranton.edu). She’s really friendly and could definitely connect you with a current student in the LGBT community. I have alumni friends but a current student would probably provide a more helpful perspective for you, in terms of assessing how accepted you would feel by other students.
Good luck with the college application process and please feel free to reach out to me if you have any other questions about Scranton!