I am interested in an urban school and fordham stuck out. Are the students here open minded? I don’t really want to be around a ton of bible pushers.
Yeah, there are no bible pushers at Fordham. Some who practice religion, yes. But no one’s in your face about it. You’re fine.
Students are very open minded and very liberal. It’s fine.
It is religiously affiliated, however, it is liberal like most universities are, and there is openness for conservatism. Except for a few signs, one can hardly notice the religious affiliation. There are only 2 core classes on religion, one is an elective in which you can study any religion. There are several threads about religion and liberalism on campus in the forum.
It also depends on the campus. Nobody is going to force you to convert to Catholicism, but RH is definitely more openly religious than LC. That being said, you seem to act like religion and closed-mindedness are the same thing, which is pretty much the opposite of Jesuit philosophy. I don’t intend this to be rude at all, but connoting religion with ideology is a stereotype that a lot of people seem to have. I’m a Catholic and I’m as liberal as they come, as are many of my friends.
But in summation, both campuses are liberal, they’re urban college campuses. They might not be as liberal as NYU, but just because Trump went here doesn’t mean we’re all conservatives. Currently we’re in the middle of this huge faculty health care debacle, and everyone is up in arms about it. I know a bunch of people, including myself, who went to the Women’s March.
St. Ignatius, who started the Society of Jesus, was all about being men and women for others. I don’t think that aligns with a lot of conservative rhetoric these days.
@curiositysquared your summation is exceptional.
I know this is kind of a superficial question but I am interested in an urban school and fordham stuck out. Are the students here open minded? I don’t really want to be around a ton of bible pushers.
My S graduated from Fordham RH years ago and I’d echo the comments above. Religious activities are available for students who wish to partake but they are not pushed on anyone. The student body was largely liberal as most 18-21 year old students tend to fall into that category, but there were some Republicans/Conservatives as well – IMO having a healthy mix is a good thing. My S had friends of many religious beliefs (Jewish, Muslim, atheist etc) who were comfortable and happy at Fordham.
That said, I do think to go to Fordham you should be respectful of the school’s Jesuit identity, be prepared to see religious symbols on campus (ex. crucifixes), and understand that theology and philosophy courses will be part of the required core curriculum. There will also be some rules that aren’t at most colleges (ex. no birth control at health center) but the students have largely found work-arounds for them (ex. they walk to the drug store down the block from campus).
My S had a wonderful four years at Fordham and if you are looking for an urban school it is certainly worth considering.