GOD GOES BACK
TO COLLEGE
e praise you for the fervency you've given us and
ask you to increase it. Start a fire burning
There * nothing toe desire more' than for (rod to
sweep across this campus.
—Excerpts from a recent Brown
University prayer meeting
To a remarkable extent, the prayers have
been answered at many a school In the midst of the sup
posedly cynical and materialistic ’HOs, a groundswell of
religious ardor is creating a breadth—and depth—of reli
gious participation that has not been seen at American
colleges in decades At least 9,(XX) of the 35,(XX) students at
the University of Illinois are active members of religious
organizations Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish. Muslim
and more The University of Southern California boasts
branches of the Chinese Christian Fellowship, the Bahai
Campus Club, the Navigators (an evangelical Protestant
sect! and the (Collegiate Association for the Research of
Principles (a branch of the Unification Church of the Rev.
Sun Myung Moon). While there were just 19 religious
groups at the University of Texas, Austin, in 1972, 49 now
flourish "There’s a spiritual dimension today in the lives of
these young people that I did not notice 10 years ago,”
declares the fundamentalist Rev. Jerry Fal well, who says he
has been uble to curtail his college evangelizing because so
many students are keeping the faith.
Falwell believes that today’s religious revival is part of
the surge in conservatism on campus—and so do some who
do not share his brimstone beliefs. In these stressful times,
says Velma Ferrell, adviser to the Baptist Student Union at
Duke University, "there is a desire to have somebody telling
you what to do, whether it be God or President Reagan.”
Those who embrace conservative politics are probably less
likely to question the beliefs of their elders—although some
are turning to church or temple in defiance of nonobservant
purents. "I think some of this is a return to traditional
values," says Roger Jenks, senior minister of the Disciples of
Christ Church at the University of Illinois. "There’s a little
less stigma against going to
church. When 1 went to col
lege|inthelate 1960s),(nev
er said where I was going on
Sunday morning.”
To some extent, the re
newed piety of 1986 may
Raftas Mi haddars:
Proselytizing at the
Inter- Varsity
Christian Fellowship
table on the University
of Texas's West Mall