More CC Research Help Needed. This time: Schools with a RELIGIOUS atmosphere

<p>@olderwisermom, i heard that calvin has a lot of drinking going on from a friend’s brother who goes there… can you attest to this?</p>

<p>Brigham Young University</p>

<p>One of the Church Educational Systems (CES) institutes. Requires its students to have a satisfactory church attendance. Monday Family Home evening, Tuesday Devotional, occasional firesides and talks, and three hour blocks of church meetings.</p>

<p>Sorry AMSBlue: I am VERY anti=Notre Dame.</p>

<p>I think Bob Jones College finally allowed interracial dating in 2002.</p>

<p>True – after the policy got national exposure in the wake of W’s visit in 2000.</p>

<p>Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan</p>

<p>While officially secular, conservative Catholics and Protestants abound here. The official school mission statement contains the College’s dedication to Judeo/Christian values. </p>

<p>I echo Historymom’s sentiments about Franciscan U of Steubenville. My children went there parttime as part of the school’s “Transient Program” for high school students. Priests & nuns everywhere, mass three times a day, confessions every day, 24/7 Eucharistic Adoration, prayer groups. No covert religious here.</p>

<p>Grove City too is a religious school but there is a kind of tension there, which also exists at Hillsdale College. The Catholic vs. Protestant tension is palpable.</p>

<p>Other overtly religious schools:</p>

<p>Christendom in Front Royal, VA. Mass every day, dress code, no internet or TV in dorms, no gender visitation in opposite dorms.</p>

<p>Ave Maria U, Florida
Ave Maria is a new university near Naples, FLorida. Very religious catalog, mass every day.</p>

<p>Wyoming Catholic College
A western Christendom; very strict, very faithful to the Magisterium.</p>

<p>“I think Bob Jones College finally allowed interracial dating in 2002.”</p>

<p>How is that related to the subject of this thread? Is that really a function of religiosity? ( is that really a word?)</p>

<p>Texas A&M University</p>

<p>There are approximately 38,000 undergraduate students at A&M, and a weekly non-denominational Bible study, Breakaway, routinely draws 2,000-3,000 students. During one special event this semester, 7,500 attended Breakaway in the football stadium (community members and former students in addition to current students).
[Breakaway</a> Ministries](<a href=“http://www.breakawayministries.org/]Breakaway”>http://www.breakawayministries.org/)</p>

<p>My son graduated from Texas A&M this year and participated in Breakaway during his time there.</p>

<p>Yeshiva University</p>

<p>Judaism permeates all. Heck the mission statement of the university is:

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<p>Fordham University in New York has a joint venture with Yeshiva University at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine of Yeshiva. :-></p>

<p>I am curious about the “religious-ness” of Jesuit schools. I have not toured or heard about one which is currently overtly Catholic, or even overtly religious. Certainly, Georgetown is not; they even covered the crucifix so Obama would speak there! While I would agree that historically speaking, there was at one time a Christian atmosphere at Jesuit institutes of higher learning, I cannot think of even one which would aspouse even casual Catholicism. </p>

<p>I would echo those sentiments for Notre Dame as well, but it is not a Jesuit school.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Lipscomb University in Nashville</p></li>
<li><p>Church of Christ denomination; Bible Class three times a week all four years; Chapel/Enrichment activities twice a week; one block (4 hours?) of opposite sex visitation in the dorms per month; Scripture verses on the walls of buildings</p></li>
<li><p>S and I did a half-day tour there.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Freed-Hardeman University is two hours west of Nashville. Also Church of Christ; have heard it described as more conservative than Lipscomb but have no personal experience.</p>

<p>I do not believe that Georgetown covered the crucifix so Obama could speak there.</p>

<p>The Catholicity or Jesuitness of Jesuit schools depends on the school, of course. And being Jesuit does not necessarily restrict you to being Catholic, as Jesuits espouse a philosophy of life and learning which is more broadly based than just being Catholic, though they are a distinct Roman Catholic order of Priests and Brothers. </p>

<p>There are anecdotal reports that some Jesuit Colleges have lost their religious fervor and even their Catholic heritage. I can’t speak to those mentioned, but offer that some may well be more Catholic and religious than others, some of which may have to do with the administration in power there. </p>

<p>Being religious doesnt necessarily mean being prayerful all day long and wearing sack cloth. No pun intended to Franciscan University at Steubenville. Nor does it necessarily mean being entirely conservative and orthodox in Catholic teachings.</p>

<p>My D at Fordham for example has had Lutheran professors (one came from Princeton), Jewish professors and priests, nuns and brothers. </p>

<p>You can be as religious as you wish at Fordham, or as secular as you wish. That doesn’t make the university either secular or overtly religious (in a domineering way), it just means its there for you if you want it. </p>

<p>Fordham offers highly prestigious programs in theology and Catholic studies, as well as a highly regarded Graduate School of Religious Studies at the Rose Hill (Bronx) campus. </p>

<p>I have not been to all 28 Jesuit colleges. But I have been (or know closely people who have been) to most of them. </p>

<p>I don’t think the OP meant to start a thread on schools that were “orthodox” or “conservative”, as much as to help identify schools where religion plays a role in the overall campus culture and offers sufficient resources and programs for those who desire to explore the world of theology, religio-philosophy etc. </p>

<p>This is less about comparing one school as “More Catholic” than another, than it is about offering choices and alternatives. </p>

<p>n.b., my distaste for Notre Dame has nothing to do with its overall conservative posture, its programs or professors. Its just an “attitude” thing I have noticed which I find distasteful…just as I find the same thing at Stanford, for example. My personal views and people are certainly free to have their own opinion (experience). </p>

<p>I dislike pitting one school against another on any level. I think schools serve their constituents well, whether they be SAT 1500 kids or SAT 1100 kids. Or conservative or liberal or orthodox or secular.</p>

<p>For that matter there are other schools out there run by different Orders of Priests (Or nuns), such as Villanova or Providence College or Siena College.</p>

<p>Marist used to be run by the Marianists, but is now officiallly unaffiliated, though the Marianists are still on campus and one can select a strongly religious course of study there. Dayton University is a Marianist College.</p>

<ul>
<li>Calvin College</li>
<li>Hope College</li>
<li>Liberty University</li>
<li>Desales University</li>
</ul>

<p>@fencersmother</p>

<p>I honestly can’t imagine how you can echo those sentiments for Notre Dame. Over 80% Catholic student body, mass celebrated over 100 times a week, etc. Very Catholic school. I think you would find it to be so as well if you stayed at the school. Unless of course you have and didn’t.</p>

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<p>I agree with fencersmother - I believe Notre Dame and a lot of the jesuit schools don’t really meet what the OP is looking for - ie</p>

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<p>Does Notre Dame or the jesuit schools have mandatory chapel?
Do they require signing a community covenant?
Are pastoral recommendations required as part of the application process?
Are their rules in place tied to the religious faith (for example, on alcohol)
etc.</p>

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Are any of these “indicators” necessary for a school to be considered sufficiently “religious”? What about liberal AND devout students who want an overtly supportive religious atmosphere but not mandatory chapel, etc.?</p>

<p>Conservative != religious; they correlate, yes, but neither is a prerequisite for the other.</p>

<p>“I don’t think the OP meant to start a thread on schools that were “orthodox” or “conservative”, as much as to help identify schools where religion plays a role in the overall campus culture and offers sufficient resources and programs for those who desire to explore the world of theology, religio-philosophy etc.” - Ghostbuster</p>

<p>I agree wtih Ghostbuster on this. I wondered well into the thread why Catholic schools were not being mentioned, as the thread posts appeared to be mainly on conservative Christian schools.</p>

<p>I am not here to parse “how Catholic” a school is. However, if we believe the OP wanted schools where religion plays an important part in the overall culture, university mission, and class offerings, I feel Notre Dame must be included. As Amsbluedevit stated, 85% of the student body is Catholic, there are over 100 masses per week, their mission and commitment to social justice, activites, etc. are most definitely Catholic. The school is not evangelistic, but I fail to see how anyone could spend time on that campus and not feel it had a religious atmosphere. Just my opinion.</p>

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<p>Notre Dame is evidently Catholic, but my High School senior D did a 2 week summer camp this past summer, and she finds it far from “religious”. We are not even Christian, let alone Catholic and we were apprehensive of sending her to the camp. But not only she returned just fine, but is now actually applying to the college. (no she’s not planning on converting!).</p>

<p>She says, yes about 85% of the student population is Catholic, but no religious activities are mandatory (I believe you do need to take a couple of theology or philosophy courses in college) and there is a visible tolerance/acceptance towards other religious or even non-religious folks.</p>