A Conversation With ... Naomi Riley

Original: AConversation With ... Naomi Riley

On the Growth and Quality of Religious Colleges

Naomi Riley is author of God on the Quad: How Religious Collegesand the Missionary Generation Are Changing America, and deputyeditor of the Wall Street Journal Taste page. A graduate of HarvardUniversity, Riley was formerly an adjunct fellow at the Ethics andPublic Policy Center.

What has changed in your mind since you wrote God on the Quad? What new insights do you have regarding religious colleges?

RILEY: Two ideas that I had when I started the book.  Thefirst is common. A lot of people wonder how to incorporate religioninto education without watering down the education. I found thatreligion actually enhanced curriculum in the schools I visited ineverything from science to literature. The second misconception Ihad when I began my research is that I wondered whether or notthese schools were acting as ghettoizing influences. Idon't think secular institutions treat religiousstudent very well, so are these campuses merely escapes for thestudents? (I wouldn't blame them if that were thecase.) But at these religious campuses, the faculty andadministrators really push students out into the secular world morethan I thought they would.

How do you explain the opposite trends of liberal faculty at most mainstream institutions and this steady stream of fairly conservative students seeking campuses which nurture their spirit as well as intellect?

RILEY: There are two factors. The first is a generationaldifference. Faculty of most colleges are dominated by the baby boomgeneration. Surveys show that, politically, they are at a differentpoint than most young people. Even at secular institutions,students are more conservative. The second factor is that if youare driving religion off campus in a way, it will find anotheroutlet. There was a recent study by UCLA which showed that collegestudents long for greater discussion of spirituality in and out ofthe classroom; faculty are unwilling to accommodate that. Studentswho are looking for more religion on campus have done the naturalthing by looking someplace else.

What has happened in America historically or culturally that more students-and their parents- choose a Christian university where they can integrate faith with learning?

RILEY: It's been gradual. As religion has beenpushed out of the mainstream, it's only naturalthat it opens up elsewhere, that it finds an outlet one way oranother. Another factor with Evangelical schools is that they havebecome more intellectually rigorous, due to a lot of factors in theEvangelical community. There was an earlier desire to shun secularknowledge as much as possible as though it were a bad influence;now Evangelical scholars have figured out they can take secularknowledge and put their own twist on it, use their religiousbackground as context for knowledge.

In last few years, since 9-11-2001, religion has become hottertopic. For people who were already religious, Idon't think 9-11 changed them. There might havebeen a brief spurt where other people reconsidered their faith, butthat phased quickly.

Many people ask me how long this phenomenon of religion withinthe university will last. When I think about these colleges, theyare much more permanent, they provide an intellectual foundationfor faith much longer-lasting than the rush from one moment ofeither tragedy or some kind of epiphany.

Why do you suppose the CCCU schools have grown by 60 percent since 1990, far above the percentage for other private and religiously affiliated colleges?

RILEY: The growth in religious schools has been across theboard. Why have the CCCU schools grown even more? Trends ineducation parallel trends in the rest of country. Religions thatdemand the most of people are the ones growing the fastest, andthat's counterintuitive for many people. Theythink, "If we change our religion to accommodateas many people as possible, and if we make our requirements muchlooser, that will attract members." But thathasn't been case. That's whythere has been a lot of growth in certain Evangelical populations.And it turns out that even young students, if you challenge them interms of behavior and faith, they can respond to that.

What differences in campus atmosphere have you noticed between CCCU schools and other religiously affiliated institutions such as Notre Dame, Brigham Young, Bob Jones, Yeshiva University, etc.?

RILEY: There's a lot. Where to begin? Dating,for instance, between Evangelical and Mormon, Mormons get marriedyounger. There is a focus across the board at religious schoolsabout being serious about romantic relationships much earlier inlife. But half of Brigham Young students are married by the timethey graduate. So it makes for a different atmosphere.

Intellectually, the CCCU schools struck me as doing a very goodjob with integration of faith and learning. In some ways theCatholic schools like Notre Dame have had that in their traditionfor a long time, but a significant percentage of those faculty atNotre Dame are not or nominally Catholic so you only get that faithin the classroom to a certain extent. The students are the mostreligious thing about that campus. On Evangelical campuses,however, there is a much more unified approach to Christianity.Politically, Evangelical students are probably more conservativethan at Notre Dame but maybe less conservative than Brigham Youngor than Thomas Aquinas.

For a lot of students, there is a sense of relief at being inthis type of environment, where to have fun youdon't have to drink, do drugs or go out and havesex. There is much less pressure on them. At Brigham Young theydon't drink at all, so parties are mostly icecream socials, there's a little dancing and someScrabble. I think some people would find that hokey but they seemto enjoy themselves. On Evangelical campuses, there seem to be alot of different activities. Generally, just being around otherpeople with whom you share certain values is a nice way to spendtime. They do things other students do: they go to sporting events,take advantage of things off-campus like museums culturalactivities. On Saturday nights on all college campuses, there isjust a lot of sitting around and socializing. Outsiders tend tolook at religious schools thinking, "What canthese students be up to?" But it all seemsexceedingly normal to me.