Students of Faith at Yale

Colleges & Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>My son is weighing an option between a Jesuit University and Yale - and one of his main deciding factors has been the atmosphere on and surrounding the campus that would respect - if not support - his religious identity. </p>

<p>So, my question is two-fold. Can anyone speak to the attitude on Yale's campus toward those who are devout in their religious beliefs? I have watched him endure four years at a prep school wherein his classmates by and large and his teachers on the whole are paradoxically intolerant of his Christian identity. </p>

<p>Is anyone aware of opportunities in the New Haven vicinity to join a faith community - he is Eastern Orthodox - but it runs very similar to a traditional Catholic service? </p>

<p>I would not want him to turn down all the other excellent community opportunities, the overall campus diversity, and academic opportunities of Yale if indeed religious tolerance is not an issue at Yale; and if there is a legitimate opportunity to join a traditional faith community at school or in the New Haven area. Yet, if this does present a challenge, the acceptance of his very traditional beliefs at a Jesuit institution may outweigh the academic edge at Yale when it comes to his intention to "develop as a whole person while growing academically".</p>

<p>Any thoughts would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Most college campuses, including Yale, are extremely tolerant and respectful of student’s religious beliefs. Your son would be right at home at any number of christian faiths at Yale: [Yale</a> Religious Ministries | Chaplain’s Office](<a href=“http://chaplain.yale.edu/yrm]Yale”>Yale Religious Ministries | Chaplain's Office)</p>

3

<p>Very sorry that your son’s prep school had such characters. In my large circle of friends, people practiced a wide swath of faith and devotion. Three from among us chose careers in the clergy if that’s any indication. I found definite seeds of my own faith journey as an undergrad there as well.</p>

<p>I think your son will do fine at Yale.</p>

4

<p>There are many campus ministries. My son has been involved in a few different ones. There are also churches and congregations in the New Haven community. If your son wants to be involved, he should not have trouble finding a community.</p>

5

<p>Yale will be tolerant but probably not too supporting. For a non secular environment go with the Jesuits.</p>

6

<p>There are many student ministries…</p>

<p>However Yale is by and large “tolerant” although liberal and will not support a conservative person of faith. </p>

<p>Meaning being a strong believer of one’s faith can/will be seen in discussions with other students as being “not accepting” etc. IF a student believes their scriptures/faith and that not an “all roads lead to Rome” or all are equal…etc… and a student believes their scriptures etc…</p>

<p>This is what our student reports regarding general conversations in the dorms for example.
Also there are lifestyles that will challenge a student of faith…</p>

<p>That said, our student has been happy at Yale. Being a scholar-athlete, our student is very busy and hasn’t had nearly the time to connect with other like minded students of faith. So I suspect if your student connects with others it will help.</p>

<p>Your student might want to try and contact the student leaders of some of the ministries etc. Yale could be a great choice.
The college years do prove a challenge for a student of faith…part of being “in” the world and not “of” it. + </p>

<p>It would help to closely look at both campus cultures…as just being Jesuit founded doesn’t mean the student body is of faith/strong and practicing.</p>

7

<p>It can work. Very well, indeed. There are robust faith communities on campus. Here’s an example: My son (a Yale senior) is part of a group of observant Jewish students and Christian students from Yale Students for Christ who have been meeting weekly for two years to study the Bible. This year they did a joint spring break trip to Israel. Here’s an article about it. [SCHWARTZ:</a> Moses and Jesus at the table | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/04/03/schwartz-moses-and-jesus-at-the-table/]SCHWARTZ:”>SCHWARTZ: Moses and Jesus at the table - Yale Daily News)</p>

<p>Some elements of social conservatism are not well tolerated at Yale. But respect for faith qua faith? No problem.</p>

8

<p>To fogfog’s point, Yale’s religious motto, which is spoken by a Yale student at around 1:10 in the below video: “There is no right or wrong religion, or way of being, there is just [what is] right for any one person.”
[Religious</a> Life at Yale End - YouTube](<a href=“Religious Life at Yale End - YouTube”>Religious Life at Yale End - YouTube)!</p>

9

<p>In my opinion and experience, people at Yale will be entirely tolerant and accepting of any level of religious belief and devoutness. However–they will not be very tolerant of several specific views. The most significant of these, I think, involves gay rights–if you are a strong opponent of gay rights, you will find yourself in a sometimes uncomfortable minority at Yale, and many people will not be accepting of this view. This will be somewhat, but less, the case for abortion rights–there will be more people (especially Roman Catholics, of which there are plenty) who will oppose abortion. Finally, if you don’t believe in evolution, you will have some problems, but I’m not aware that this is an issue for Eastern Orthodox folks. But if you don’t smoke or drink or sleep around, and pray a lot, and go to church, etc.–people will be entirely supportive of that.</p>

10

<p>Hunt has it exactly right, IMO.</p>

11

<p>One of my sophomore son’s suitemates (they all stayed together after freshman year) is a member of the LDS church. He has A LOT of time commitments during the week with the church. He is even leaving after this current semester for a two year mission and returning for his final two years at Yale after that. He is beloved by the suite and they are so sad he’s going to miss their final two years together. They are very supportive and almost protective of him and his beliefs. I recall one time last year that the suite wanted to watch the Big Lebowski, and my son said they made sure to monitor the remote to fast forward through the parts that might offend him.</p>

12

<p>correct
If you faith doesn’t support certain social “norms”, and you are strong adherent to your faith…which means you don’t think all are equal…there is a rub.</p>

<p>To “believe” all are equal does not make one really a believer of one’s faith/scripture.</p>

<p>Can the kids peacefully co exist, sure.
Will there be “support” for one’s views… perhaps not…</p>

13

<p>I don’t think you have to believe that all faiths are equal–but you do have to believe that each person has the right to believe what he wishes.</p>

<p>I do think certain social norms are the rub, though. You will not get much support for an anti-gay position. You will, however, get plenty of support for such things as a personal decision not to drink alcohol. That will be respected.</p>

14

<p>“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”</p>

<p>Rick Warren</p>

15

<p>Speaking as a Yale Junior, off the top pf my head, I can think of more than five close friends who are devout Christians of some form (ie, attend church at least once a week, read the bible at least once a week if not daily, may say grace before very meal, participate in prayer groups, etc) there are many more who are less devout, and none of them have mentioned having trouble in that regard at Yale. </p>

<p>There’s a Christian A Capella group, the Chaplain’s office (for all religious groups) sponsored a program this past Spring break (and possibly previous ones as well) to perform community service in New Haven and facilitate communication among the different religious ministries affiliated with it. There are also several churches within walking distance (20 min max) of campus. I get FB invites to discussions about faith or visiting speakers whether it’s just around Easter or the middle of October. You get the idea.</p>

<p>I would agree with Hunt, however, that there are social issues which are not tolerated (anti gay rights comes to mind, although in a section just last week, a classmate of mine debated the immutability or not of homosexuality with our TA, so I wouldn’t say it’s a prohibited topic). I would say that there are times when everyone endeavors to minimize their religious views to avoid potential clash, but I’ve found people not only open, but vocal about their views in more private conversations. I would say that despite having gone to high school in a rather conservatively protestant area, I’ve heard far more open and honest religious dialogue at Yale. I do not deny that this may also be due to a high schoolers not being the most capable of critical thinking… :P</p>

<p>In short, I would say what is critical is the ability to keep an open mind and rigorously examine and challenge both your own beliefs and that of others. There is no necessity to believe all roads lead to Rome, but sometimes you must accept not everyone wants to end up at Rome. </p>

<p>As a final disclaimer, I mentioned devout Christians only bc OP mentioned her son is Christian. There are of course other religious groups on campus who are active in their own way. In addition, I don’t think the amount of devout students I’m friends with are a particular quirk, partly because I know them from different areas of my life, and partially because I myself identify as agnostic/atheist.</p>

<p>This is already way too long, so any further questions had best be resolved via PM. Happy to chat about any aspect of Yale :)</p>

16

<p>Last week my daughter went to church with some friends–and then they all went to the bagel brunch at the Slifka Center.</p>

17

<p>Re FogFog’s comment: “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”</p>

<p>This goes both ways though. While I wouldn’t expect someone of faith to necessarily “approve” of many things that are common on college campuses, I would also expect that person to be considerate and polite, and not to continuously express those judgements to the person in question. Just as I would expect someone who may think that faith is “silly” or “misguided” to be considerate and polite and not continuously express those judgements to the person in question.</p>