In this NYTimes article, Alan Finder says there’s a new spiritual climate on college campuses across the country:
Peter J. Gomes has been at Harvard University for 37 years, and says he remembers when religious people on campus felt under siege. To be seen as religious often meant being dismissed as not very bright, he said.
No longer. At Harvard these days, said Professor Gomes, the university preacher, “There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in 100 years.”
Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember.
When I was at UCLA in the early 90’s, the campus attitude toward spirituality could be summed up by: “Eh, whatever.” Christians like me were never really “under seige” because nobody really cared much about anything or anyone spiritual. Even many of the college students who were involved in campus ministries seemed content with a shallow understanding of faith and a wishy-washy commitment to God. My friends on other campuses told me things were pretty much the same.
Not any more. At Harbor we’re blessed to have dozens of college students who are passionately committed to God, eager to explore deep theological issues, and excited to talk about Jesus with non-Christian friends. A few times I’ve said to myself after a conversation with a college student, “I don’t remember being this dedicated to the Lord when I was in college.” And it seems these kids are popping up all over the country.
So what’s changed in the last 15 years? Administrators have a few ideas:
University officials explained the surge of interest in religion as partly a result of the rise of the religious right in politics, which they said has made questions of faith more talked about generally. In addition, they said, the attacks of Sept. 11 underscored for many the influence of religion on world affairs. And an influx of evangelical students at secular universities, along with an increasing number of international students, means students arrive with a broader array of religious experiences.
Could be. Or maybe, considering how many Christian revivals in American history have been sparked on college campuses, God has something bigger up his sleeve.