( Q t t- K G £ L l f t
House, to provide kosher meals and an opportunity to speak
Hebrew And at UT in Austin, Christianity has proved
appealing to the lurge community of Asian students, |xar
ticularly immigrants—even though it is alien to many of
their native cultures "They’re a long way from home and
want to he with a group t hut speaks the same language and
knows what they’re going through," says biochemistry
senior Sophia Chiu
At times, however, this sense of belonging may induce a
degree of narrow-mindedness that seems to conflict with the
larger significance of a faith "People are dinging an inordi
nate amount to ethnic identification and not enough to
1 HI Ai h ST AH
spiritual ideals,” complains
Kabbi Marc Gopin, adviser
to the Orthodox Jewish com
munity at Brandeis Univer
sity. "Say anything about
Israel and people start
STK\ h I KO\ \HI>
Religion and relationships:
Sunday services at St.
John's Catholic
Chattel at the University
of Illinois,
Champaif’n-Urbana
screaming; say anyining aooui iioa ana people srirug men
shoulders. "That emphasis on ethnicity led toa bit ter contro
versy last year when some students on the predominantly
Jewish campus charged that protests against South African
apartheid had distracted the Brandeis community from the
plight of Soviet Jews Emphasis on Jewish issues is "a part of
Judaism," (lupin concedes, "but it’s a very thin line to
ethnic racism "
N* |i|i rights'. Intolerance has cropped up in ot her forms as
well At Arizona State, for example, conservative students.
includingmembersoftheCityofthelxjrd—a Catholic funda
mentalist group—in 1984 took over the student government
and thecampus newspaper where they editorialized against
gay rights and women who pursue careers In the spring of
1985 Scott Scarborough, a born-again campus politician at
Texas, waselected president oft he student government after
pledging substantial reforms, including the abolition of a
subcommittee for homosexuals When that subcommittee
presentedngay-rightsbilltothestudent senate the following
Mixing faith and tan:
Members of the Islamic
Society of Washington
University take time out
for an informal game
of soccer
mu. scarDorougn ana nis
supporters walked out in an
attempt to deny the assem
bly a quorum The tactic
failed: the bill was passed,
and a string of similar de
feats left some conservative