Practicing religion at Yale need not be difficult

A brief glance at any one of Yale's bulletin boards shows posters for Master's Teas, discussion groups, and dinners sponsored by a number of religious groups on campus. Indeed, a visitor to Yale might be surprised to see so many outward signs of religion here at a time when spirituality is often thought to be waning.

Yale's community of over 5,000 undergraduates encompasses students from many religious sects. For many students, attending college is their first time away from home, an experience that may challenge their relationships with their own religions. Nevertheless, the overwhelming sentiment from religious students is that practicing one's religion is in fact easier at Yale than at home.

COURTESY SLIFKA CENTER The Joseph Slifka Center, one of the major centers of religious life on campus.

Many students cited the existence of undergraduate religious organizations as contributing to the ease of practicing religion at Yale. Matt Vogel, MC '02, co-chair of the undergraduate council at Saint Thomas More, a Catholic church near Yale's campus, described a system facilitated by the Yale Chaplain's office that allows the Catholic community to reach out to incoming freshmen even before they arrive at college.

"All freshmen who register with the University Chaplain have `big sibs' who contact them over the summer and try to make them feel comfortable at the chapel during their transition to school," Vogel said.

Diana Cieslak, MC '04, a freshman member of the St. Thomas More Catholic community, described the church as "really supportive of undergraduate needs. They have a 5 p.m. mass on Sundays, for instance, because they know that no student wants to get up early on the weekends."

Shari Gottlieb, PC '03, co-President of the Yale Hillel, cited a similar sense of community at the Slifka Center for Jewish Life during Passover, when many students returned home to spend the weekend with their families. "There were several seders on each of the two seder nights, which were well-attended by the Jewish students who remained at Yale."

The Catholic and Jewish communities at Yale, are, of course, some of the largest and most visible religious groups on campus. Nevertheless, members of smaller religious communities are also able find other people with whom they can share their religious beliefs.

Ravenna Michalson, TC '01, president and founder of the Yale Buddhist Society, found that putting up signs for the Buddhist Society and word-of-mouth information about the group have contributed to a tight-knit, albeit small, community of students who meet for weekly meditation sessions.

Many religious students also described the general attitude of tolerance from Yale students towards students of different religions as contributing to the ease of being religious at Yale. Taimur Khan, SY `03, a Muslim student who prays five times a day, says that he has been able to accommodate this schedule with ease at Yale. "I have been given a lot of respect by my roommates for practicing my religion." He added that he generally finds religion at Yale to be "appreciated and respected by all."

Michalson also reports a generally positive attitude towards the Buddhist Society at Yale. "I occasionally get an intellectual, snide comment from someone who's trying to trip me up about the tenets of Buddhism or something," she said. "But in general, there's a lot of tolerance."

While the vast majority of students noted religious tolerance among their peers, however, a few were not so positive. "Yale is filled with students who do not care about religion and others who are hostile to it, and the actions of many students reflect that fact," said Vogel.

Some students also noted a lack of tolerance towards religion on the part of Yale faculty. "I have had professors openly attack the Church during lectures," said Vogel. Another student recalled an experience in which a teaching assistant openly criticized religion in one of her classes.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of religious students find their professors and peers to be quite tolerant. Furthermore, the many students who practice religion at Yale help to create a campus environment with vibrant and varied student groups that add to the diverse flavor of campus life.

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