Religion on College Campuses
By Riley Rinehard
There’s a lot to think about when picking a college after high school. Tuition, location, majors, etc. But what about religion on campus? Should that be a deciding factor, too? Does being on a religious campus really make a difference to faculty and students? Even if it does make a difference, will religious college campuses continue to thrive in the future?
Religious Statistics of Colleges Today
Religious colleges tend to differ slightly from other colleges. According to the article “The Truth About Religiously Affiliated Colleges” on Nextstepu:
The most common differences between religious and nonreligious
colleges include required religion or philosophy courses and having
chapel services on campus. You may also have to write about
religion in your admissions essay. At a religiously affiliated college,
students are also encouraged to grow not only academically, but
also spiritually.
As reported by UnivStats.com, in the United States, there are approximately 900 religiously affiliated colleges. The following graphs portray the number of religiously affiliated colleges in each state and how many of those colleges are associated with specific religions.
Professors’ Views and Experiences
Professor Jan-Erik Jones is a Philosophy professor at SVU and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Does the religion on campus affect the way you teach?
Yeah. Yeah, I think it does. Knowing that there is going to be a weighted majority of my students who are going to come from a Latter-day Saint background does allow me to talk about things that I may not be able to otherwise. But also knowing that there are going to be members of my classroom that aren’t from that tradition means that I have some explaining to do. And I do like to make sure that students feel comfortable speaking their mind regardless.
Have you seen the religion on campus affect your students’ lives?
I’m not sure what to say about that. I guess what I could say is that I’ve had students report to me that they had experiences to grow in their testimony that they wouldn’t have had elsewhere. But I don’t know. People tend not to report non favorable things, I guess.
Do the religious environment and the way you teach philosophy go hand-in-hand?
One of the things that I would say is that I’ve always had philosophical questions and I think most people do. They just don’t realize that that’s what they are. So as I’ve learned and grown in understanding the answers to my philosophical questions and as I’ve learned to grow in my relationship with God and as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I’ve found that the philosophical component of my growth has augmented my understanding of my religious beliefs and commitments to the point where I realize that the Restoration was not just important, but necessary and that the more I understand philosophy, the more I understand the Restoration.
If you could choose one thing that you love the most about the religious campus and one thing that you would change, what would those be?
Those are two really good questions. So what’s one thing that I really love about being on a religious campus? Well, one thing that I love about it, is that there is a very clear place for conversation about what my commitments to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel really mean for me and I can have that conversation with faculty and students and staff. And there’s not this big distinction between what I have learned through my discipline and how it integrates with or is relevant to the rest of my life. So I think that’s a neat part of this.
What are some things that I would change about the religious campus? I haven’t been a student at SVU. Several of my family… all of my nuclear family members, with the exception of me, have all been SVU students and so I don’t know what it’s like to be a student here. I would hope that, spiritually speaking, it’s a good, safe place for talking about religious belief. And at the same time I’d hope that there is a sense of belonging for everyone… I would hope that the student experience is a positive, strong, faith-affirming one. So I don’t know what I would change.
Is there anything else, just on the record, that you would like to say about religion on campus that hasn’t been mentioned or asked?
It’s not going to be like it was in high school. And that challenge of new questions and new unsettled worldviews can be invigorating and hopefully its not terribly scary. There are aspects of it that can be scary for people and I get that, but my hope is that in an environment where they know that I have commitments. I’ve got a commitment to my discipline, I’ve got a commitment to Jesus Christ, and I’ve got a commitment to them. So I’ve got three commitments. My commitments to my students is I’m going to be as honest as I can with you and I’m going to be 100% on your side. I want you to learn as much as humanly possible… one of the things that I hope you learn is how to learn. One of the things I hope you learn is how to navigate that unsettled world and come up with answers for yourself that you find meaningful to you and that you have integrated into your overall now tic structure in a healthy, happy way. So I just, I hope that that happens for all of our students and I try to create an environment where that happens. And I think all of my colleagues do. I think all of us recognize that one of the things that we’re doing is not just cramming information into people. That’s not useful. I mean, the internet could do that. What we’re hoping for is that we create an environment where you get to explore a wide array of questions… and to rationally think about them and to navigate the strengths and weaknesses of each of the arguments and in an environment where we’re not gonna lead you astray. Right? Our goal is to help you acquire skills and help you acquire truth and to be mentors along the same path that you’re on. We’re just a little bit farther ahead on that path. And so if we can create an environment like that, I think we did a great job. And I don’t know if that answers your question, but that’s sort of the way I think of it. And I’ve loved every minute of being on campus.
Professor David Cox is a Professor of History here at Southern Virginia University. He is not a Latter-day Saint, he is, however, an ordained Episcopal priest.
As someone who is not of Latter-day Saint faith, have you ever felt negatively affected by being on this campus?
On the contrary. I have been so embraced by this campus from the president through the staff and the faculty and students. It’s been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It truly has been. I’ve been warmly accepted. People understand that I’m coming from- that I’m sort of an inside outsider and, um, that has some ramifications. I don’t always understand the language and so forth. But part of what I do and I think why I’m appreciated, is the people understanding my respect for the school and for the faith. I’m able to help people widen their horizons. So for example, one of my courses this year is on the Reformation era, which has absolutely nothing to do directly with LDS, but it does sort of present a precursor for that and it does explain why Catholics are Catholics and Presbyterians are Presbyterians and so forth. And in the Spring I’ll do a course on American religious history which covers everything that we’ve got. So that, in a sense, is what I’m trying to do here, in this course, is to help LDS students who often come out of fairly limited perspectives understand that there is a greater world of which they are a part. One of the things I do is ask each student who takes those courses is to go to two religious services of traditions not their own. And of course, usually that means that they go to someplace other than LDS. Occasionally, people are not LDS and they might go to an LDS service or meeting. But often people will say, “that’s the very first time I’ve ever gone to a service other than my own.” And that’s important I think, too. It has to do I think with the mission of Southern Virginia University because SVU is outside the Mormon bubble. You know, its outside of Utah and certainly Provo. And where, you know, there’s and LDS church on every three blocks. At least that was my observation anyway. This is a diverse area. Not unlike most places in the country. And so by helping students, um, understand that diversity while respecting their own traditions, its a way of helping them deal with the wider world of which we are a part.
Have you seen the religious campus affect your students at all?
Yes, I have. It’s wonderful. First of all, when I talk religious language, or use religious concepts, they grasp it in a way that others would not. For example, one of the items that I inflict on people…. is a sermon that the central image is the city on the hill. And I’ll say, “well, where’s that from?” People immediately they’ll say:
“Well, the Bible.”
“Where?”
“Uh, let’s see… New Testament.”
“Yes. Where?”
“A gospel.”
Sometimes people will say, “Matthew 5.”
You know, they know this. I try that somewhere else, I’ve never had the opportunity, but I can’t imagine people coming up with that kind of reference immediately. Um, and there’s a seriousness of purpose that I, I really appreciate, too. And appreciation of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Father’s role in lives that we share.
If you could choose one thing that you love the most about being on a religious campus and one thing that you would change, what would those be?
The one thing that I just absolutely cherish is the collegiality of the school generally, but particularly the faculty. They are just such wonderful, wonderful people.
I think the challenge for any school, any institution, is to live up to its values and occasionally I see that as well. How does the school live up to its values as a public institution on one side, but on the other hand as a campus that has some particular religious commitments? I don’t want to go any further than that, but sometimes there are issues around that. Struggles. And those are struggles that incidentally every church and every institution faces. So we’re not alone.
Is there anything else, just on the record, that you would like to say about religion on campus that hasn’t been mentioned or asked?
Not that I can think of.
Students’ Views and Experiences
Lane Evans is a biochem major and will be graduating in 2025. He is a born and raised member of the church.
Was religion part of the draw to SVU for you?
Partially, yeah. It definitely helped because, like, I find it much easier to be in a place that you don’t have to worry about the college having to cater to your beliefs. Like, I went to a community college before this, and it felt very much like any high school experience where, like, you’re one of the only members, and like, this, that, and everything else. And religion is just, like, a normal, like, everyone else has different ones. It was very diverse. Um, and then I did hear about SVU mostly for athletics, but hearing that it’s, like, the BYU of the east, you know. I’ll be honest, the fact that you could still keep your beard was definitely a defining factor, too. But it was also that nine out of ten people here are members of the church and so even if not everyone does the whole standards thing, the majority of people understand and they’re not going to mess with you about living the standards. And so that’s one less thing I really had to worry about in this whole confusing experience that is college. So that’s nice.
Have you seen your faith grow being here?
I don’t know if I would say it grew, but it didn’t diminish I guess. Honestly, it’s nice having access to it- not to faith. I mean, it’s nice having access to people who understand it I guess. I guess for me, it didn’t really grow and it didn’t really diminish, it maintained. But I don’t know if it would have maintained at different schools. I feel like at different schools maybe I would be less likely to, “hey, let’s go to church every Sunday,” or “let’s go to an institute.” I definitely probably would not be in any institute classes if I was at a different school, I’ll be honest. But here, it’s like, you can take it as a credit even and, like, you can go and you can even just invite your friends to go. Or you can go to an activity or ward prayer. It’s just included with being here on campus and it’s nice. You feel supported.
If you could choose one thing that you love the most about being on a religious campus and one thing that you would change, what would those be?
I would keep the openness because it feels very, very natural to just talk about religion because it’s just so intertwined. Even if it’s not members of the church it feels very easy to talk about any religion here, which is nice. Or at least that’s been my experience. Maybe not for other people. I don’t know. But I’m not, like, the cookie cutter mold. I’m not from Utah. I’m not from all this, but, like, for me, it’s like, it’s much easier to talk about because religion’s already there instead of it being like, “separate church and state” and everything else. School is very open here with, “okay, we can talk about this.” Which is nice. I think I would keep that.
Something I would get rid of is sometimes there is stigma amongst students I think. About, like, their opinions of different churches, per say. Because, I guess this is specifically an SVU thing, is like, we’re very catered towards the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is wonderful, but I feel like sometimes there can be a stigma towards being a nonmember for example or some people may feel left out because maybe they didn’t serve a mission. And so, like, I feel like certain stigmas I would definitely be happy if they left because we should just be proud of who we are, what we do, and that we’re all here unified as a campus and ten furthermore, if we are furthered by religion, we shouldn’t just focus on our religion, but just being Christian for example. We should be very inclusive. So I feel like stigmas towards other people is something we could leave behind.
Is there anything else, just on the record, that you would like to say about religion on campus that hasn’t been mentioned or asked?
Again, maybe this is just an SVU experience, but, like, don’t expect it to be all church-y. Like just because we’re associated with the church, it’s not going to be all church-y. We still have parties. We still live life. We still do sports. We still have all the fun and normalcies that every other college has. So, treat it still like college. Just because there is a religious campus doesn’t mean it’s all religion and no campus. I think I have more interactions with my teachers than I do my bishop. So like, you don’t have to worry about it being all preach-y. Or at least here. That might not be true for other schools. I don’t have experiences with them. But here I feel like it’s a good place to be still. And then if you aren’t about the church life, I feel like something very good about this campus is you don’t have to be. You can still just go to the sports, you can still just do activities maybe. You don’t have to, like, be entirely part of the church and that’s something I feel like we find good equilibrium here. That’s something, like, if people want to go to school here, like, they should remember that. That’s my advice. Some people are like, “I don’t want to go to church school. That sounds really preach-y.” But it’s not really a church school. Think of it as school first and then, like, the church is a bonus.
Reese Kimball is a graphic design major and will graduate in ’25. He is an inactive member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. I asked him a little bit about his experience on campus.
What was the draw to SVU for you?
Mainly for me it was on the other side of the coast and I’d never been out here to the east side. I’ve always been like western. I thought it’d be a great fresh start. And there were some scholarships I could claim here and, I don’t know, I just like being around individuals with some high standards I think.
Have you noticed an effect on your everyday life from being on a religious campus?
Yes. 100%. My last college, my roommates were some heavy stoners. You can imagine the smell. Like, the room stunk so bad. Being here on campus, it’s nice. I don’t have to worry about awful smells of weed, or like, if people are gonna be partying it up, or, I don’t know. I don’t care about parties, per say, but you know, sometimes things get out of hand.
Have you ever felt, in any way, discriminated against as an inactive member?
Not directly. I mean, sometimes I’ll, like, talk to people, trying to like mingle around, and then slightly mention I’m inactive, or sometimes they’ll figure it out and then they kind of change their demeanor a little bit. I mean like sometimes their either overly nice and I feel like they’re trying to bring me back and other times its like, “ew, okay.” It’s indirect, but I mean, I’m a good face reader. I read people well and that’s something I’ve noticed, but it doesn’t bother me too much.
If you could choose one thing that you love the most about being on a religious campus and one thing that you would change, what would those be?
Personally I just love how peaceful it is. So I’d keep that. All the rules and regulations they have here I love, I agree with completely. So I’m okay with the rules.
I don’t really have any issues…
Is there anything else, just on the record, that you would like to say about religion on campus that hasn’t been mentioned or asked?
I don’t have much on the religious topic of this school. I mean, I’m just living my life. That’s all it is.
My Views and Experiences
I am a born and raised member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; however, besides my mom and I, my family members are either extremely inactive or not a member at all. I grew up in Lancaster, PA where I was one of six members in my high school of nearly one thousand students. So I am very used to being around people who aren’t of my religion — and it never bothered me before… until I moved to North Carolina.
Before coming to SVU, I attended a little college in the Middle-of-Nowhere, North Carolina. Everyone who attended had very different backgrounds and I was the only Latter-day Saint there out of over eight hundred students. My church ward wasn’t much better. My ward in North Carolina was actually the size of a branch. I called it The Glorified Twig because there were maybe thirty people on a good day and none of them were my age.
The truth is: it was lonely.
Although I had never necessarily been surrounded by Latter-day Saints growing up, I still interacted with them nearly every day. Living in North Carolina was my first time experiencing life without almost daily member interaction… I was lucky if I interacted with members outside of the two hours I spent at church on Sunday. It was during that time that I realized how important my religion is to me.
When I came to SVU, everything changed. I started to receive that daily member interaction that I craved so much. I became happier. I made more friends. I began to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually heal. I didn’t feel so lonely anymore.
At SVU, my daily interactions are almost solely with members. Even though this is true, I don’t feel like “Mormon culture” is very evident on campus– which really helps prevent those on campus who are not members of the church from feeling isolated. However, Church standards are still evident across campus thanks to the Code of Conduct which aligns with the Church.
What I enjoy the most about SVU, though, is the Institute program. Institute wasn’t really available to me in North Carolina, so when I took Women In the Scriptures with Brother Terrol Williams my first semester here, it was a brand new experience for me. I instantly fell in love with it. So much so, that I realized what I really want to do for a career is become an Institute teacher. I changed my major and even started teaching some early morning seminary classes for the Buena Vista youth in order to help prepare me for my future career goal. I had help from SVU and Institute staff every step of the way. If I hadn’t attended SVU, a school affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, I never would have discovered what I want to do with my life.
To me, the spirit on campus is almost palpable. I feel that everything at SVU prepares me, not just in the secular sense, but in a spiritual sense as well. I have been spiritually fed as a student here. Not only have I recognized a difference in myself when it comes to my happiness since starting at SVU, but so have the people I’m close to. I truly believe that SVU has taught me how to combine my spiritual life with my academic life which is something I have never experienced in my past educational experiences.
What Religious College Campuses Might look Like in the Future
According to worldpopulationreview.com, “about 85% of the world’s people identify with a religion.” That rounds to about 6 billion people. Despite how impressive this statistic is, research also shows that religion is on the decline– especially in the United States. As stated by the Houston Herald in an article, “As the U.S. adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year in the country…”
Not only are churches shutting down, but, according to some articles, so are religiously affiliated schools. This fear began when 18 Chrisitan colleges closed or merged after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Christian Post reported that, “In addition to the pandemic,… factors such as the high cost of attending college, stagnating state funding, and a shrinking number of high school graduate enrollees have contributed to the decline.”
One school that shut down is Alderson Broaddus– a private Baptist university located in Philippi, West Virginia that ceased operation on July 31, 2023 due to financial struggles. This may sound familiar to SVU students because on August 4, 2023, SVU sent out an email and released a statement on the SVU website, saying:
“We extend our condolences to the Alderson Broaddus community,” said Southern Virginia University Acting President Eric Denna. “As a fellow liberal arts college that abides by Christ-centered principles and values, we want to reach across and offer a helping hand in the ways we are able. Knights and Battlers are similar in spirit, and I hope all AB students going through this unexpected change know there is a place for them here.”
To help students affected by the closure of Alderson Broaddus, SVU offered any AB students an expedited admissions process, an ABU discount-rate match, and roster spots for Alderson Broaddus athletes.
Alderson Broaddus is just one example of eighteen. This may seem like a lot, but we have to look at the situation objectively. Although the closure of these schools is tragic, eighteen colleges really isn’t that many– especially considering how there are nearly 900 religious colleges in the United States alone. According to an article from christianscholars.com, “In reality, CHE [Chrisitian higher education] is growing around the world and maintaining enrollment better than secular universities in the United States.” An article from fism.tv explains that, “As many public institutions are scrambling to remedy the problem of declining enrollment, Christian colleges are accepting record numbers of students.”
Yet another source has an article that explains how Christian colleges will continue to exist: “Christian Colleges Will Survive, but Change is Coming” from christianitytoday.com. The article discusses how Chrisitan colleges will continue to operate, just with some changes, such as adopting a liberal-arts model, getting rid of the secular/sacred divide, preparing students with the skills they need to join the workforce, and highlighting what sets them apart from secular ones.
In the same article, Philip Dearborn, Provost of Lancaster Bible College, located in my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is quoted, saying, “We’re going to help you in your spiritual walk. We’re going to help you understand the important role that the local church plays and how you’re to engage with that, and how you’re to go and make disciples. That is fundamentally a different experience than you’ll get at a state university.” The same idea was examined at a conference in Washington D.C.. It was discussed in a different article by The Christian Post, saying, “The event, ‘The Fate of the Religious University,’ was held at the American Council on Education, consisting of various panels discussing how religious universities should be leaning into their religious identities even as they seek to bolster student enrollment.” The hope is that by really stressing sacred identities, religious colleges will become more appealing to prospective students.
Based on several articles, it appears that religious colleges, especially Christian colleges, will continue to not just grow, but to thrive in the coming years. The closing of the eighteen Christian colleges is unfortunate, but ultimately, not representative of all religiously affiliated schools.
From personal experiences and hearing the perspectives of others, it is clear that there is something very special about being on a religious college campus. It creates unity and builds faith amongst faculty, staff, and students. It appears that religiously affiliated colleges definitely do make an impact and they are here to stay.
