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Come early or you might not be able to find a seat. The place fills up quickly and although the space may seem big, anyone who has come in five minutes prior to the start thinking that finding one would not be an issue has scanned the packed area and failed to find an empty spot in the crowd.
No, this is not a Boston College football game - it is the 10:15 p.m. Mass in the Heights Room in Corcoran Commons. And while it does not draw the same crowds as some other BC events, it has been known to reach standing-room-only. The fact that a Sunday Mass at a Catholic university draws a large crowd may not come as a surprise to some, but it does touch upon a topic that has continued to interest researchers and the media in recent years.
A 2005 study conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA found that 81 percent of the students surveyed said they attended religious services at least occasionally. The institute announced that a new freshman survey will come out in 2008 and it is likely that this new study will receive just as much attention from the media as its predecessor did.
Two years ago, the study's findings were met with a variety of interpretations. Local and university papers took the report - which said that 40 percent of students thought it was important to follow religious teachings in everyday life - as proof that college students do not become more secular after moving away from home. Other media outlets, like ABC News, took the statistic that 52 percent of students said that they attended religious services the year before their freshman year and that only 29 percent reported doing so in their junior year as proof that just the opposite was true. The ABC News article implied that college students who turned away from religion made poor life choices concerning alcohol and premarital sex and found themselves confronted with a sense of emptiness.
While the ABC News article ran with the subheading, "many young people turn away from God in college, but it doesn't have to be that way," the article focused on a single family. It also failed to acknowledge a fact that may seem obvious to the average BC student: A good number of the people taking time out of their night to attend the 10:15 p.m. Mass spent the previous night partying off campus or in the Mods. Some may argue that there is something hypocritical about this, but others will argue that this is evidence that the question of religion and secularization on the college campus is a more complicated issue than it is sometimes presented to be.
David Quigley, dean of freshman for the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of history, is chairing a faculty seminar on the University and the Catholic intellectual tradition. He discussed in an e-mail the change that has occurred in American higher education and society as a whole since BC's founding in 1863: "144 years ago, it was understood that higher education in America was linked to religious concerns. Today, that relationship is not at all taken for granted. Harvard's faculty recently divided over the question of whether to require of all undergraduates a single class on issues of faith. The complicated relationship between faith and culture plays out in different ways all over academia."
For a university like BC that identifies with a particular religious tradition, an increased secularization in education and society can prompt questions as to what it means to be a religiously affiliated institution.
BC's affiliation with the Jesuit tradition has played an important role in shaping not only its identity but also its campus environment. "I think that Boston College's particular identity - as a Jesuit, Catholic university - has fostered a distinctive local culture that encourages students and faculty to ask certain types of questions, to take on certain responsibilities in the community, and to think seriously about the tensions between faith and reason. At times, I wish we thought a bit more seriously about such tensions and the ways in which some members of our community have come to feel distanced from the university's mission," Quigley said.
The certain responsibilities taken on by students that Quigley refers to speak to BC's emphasis on social justice. Service organizations like Appalachia Volunteers, which boasts over 650 members and 4Boston, are sponsored by Campus Ministry.
"I think a lot of Jesuit ideals are out there not just because they are ideals but because they're made real. The Jesuits make faith real; it's not just something you read about in a book," said Jeremy Marks, a council member on 4Boston and A&S '09.
Marks also addressed another topic in the debate regarding religion and secularity: how faith is defined. One's faith and how it is characterized can be a highly personal thing for many people, making it difficult to make general statements about how often students practice it.
"I would define faith as kind of like a higher calling, something that is beyond ourselves," Marks said. Marks, who was raised in a Christian environment, said that while he practices faith, he could not specify a denomination.
"I think my faith comes out more in daily life and relationships," Marks continued. "I think religious rituals can be a positive point but I think the central point is how it plays out in vocation, relationships, and social justice. Religious practices and doctrine can be positive but they can also be a negative thing if they become the only thing."
For Ibrahim Dayib, A&S '09, faith is not solely an individual thing. "I think practicing religion on your own is not really [practicing] the way it is meant to be. I think it is something that is very communal."
Dayib, who serves on the council for the Muslim Student Association, described how faith can foster a sense of community: "Right now it is Ramadan and a group of us meet together every night after sundown to break fast together. It's a very communal feeling."
Dayib also explained his reasons for choosing to continue to practice his faith. "I think it was part of my spiritual development that came early on. And I think it has to do with Islam, you know, you have to pray five times a day and no one can really enforce that. There's only so much your parents can do. They can tell you to pray but if you don't have the initiative to do that on your own it's not going to happen; it's something that's between you and God.
"It was very much something that I chose for myself after having a thorough understanding of the principles of Islam," Dayib said.
But college can pose its own set of challenges for students wishing to continue practicing their religion. BC recently faced criticism for scheduling First Year Academic Convocation during Rosh Hashanah. "All of us need to do a better job of creating and sustaining a welcoming community here at BC, whether that entails the dates on which we schedule major events or the ways in which we act on the Jesuit tradition of cosmopolitanism," Quigley said.
Some faiths are also not as prominent on campus as others. "When I came to BC I was shocked to find that there was no Muslim student association. A group of freshmen and sophomores got together and started organizing things. We needed to get going right away," Dayib said, explaining that he and his fellow Muslim students needed to be able to perform Jumu'ah, a congregational prayer performed on Fridays.
"I would say as a whole, BC has been very accepting and helpful, especially Campus Ministry," Dayib said. There is currently no Muslim chaplain at BC but Campus Ministry has made sure that the Muslim Student Association is not left completely on its own.
"The Campus Ministry has chaperoned us, they've helped us with booking space, booking rooms, and getting funds," through the Office of the Dean for Student Development, he said.
Exposure to other religions can not only raise one's understanding of other cultures and faiths, it can also help students find a common ground. "I think the Jesuit ideals are very translatable. The idea of educating a person through a spiritual foundation is very important to the Jesuits and also very important to an Islamic upbringing," Dayib said.
There are times, however, when one's personal beliefs clash with religious doctrine. Marks discussed this conflict when he described his involvement in the GLBTQ Leadership Council (GLC). "That [being a member of GLC] has to do with my respect and appreciation for all humans no matter how they were made, and that is one case where religious doctrine and the calling I see through my faith butt heads," Marks said.
Despite an increasingly secular society and the challenges of everyday life, to say that students lose their religion on campus would be a hasty generalization.
Dayib spoke to this when he said, "I've seen a lot of people fall out of faith, but I've also seen a considerable number of people fall into faith here."
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