WASHINGTON, D.C.–American University students and staff interviewed this week agreed that remaining faithful to their religious identity is a struggle due to the pressure of college life and the numerous responsibilities that come with it.
For the majority of college students living away from home, this is the first time in their lives they are being faced with having to attend religious services without their families.
“I was not able to attend church as often in college mainly due to the fact that it was hard to balance it into my schedule,” said Megan Brew.
Observant students may feel the pressure to maintain family traditions and rituals they grew with, causing them to push their schoolwork aside. For other students their determination and dedication to their schoolwork is easily able to conflict with religious holidays.
As an outcome of these competing demands, some students will choose to distance themselves from their religion by stop going to services altogether, while others may continue to go but much less frequently.
In her book Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance and Religion on America’s College Campuses, Donna Freitas says keeping religious traditions alive at campus is complicated especially when their morals are challenged by the pressure of sex.
“The key question is not so much why and how spirituality and religion are apportioned among the college population but how religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, and affiliations are affected (if at all) when sex is added to the mix- and vice versa,” Freitas wrote.
It’s difficult for some students searching for the perfect religious group on campus that fulfills all their needs and matches the community many left behind at home.
“There is not a youth group on campus that has everything I was looking for,” said Anne Shannon, 22, a graduate student majoring in Global Governance Political and Security at American University.
American University has an interfaith chapel at the heart of their campus, the Kay Spiritual Life Center, in order to provide a place for the sharing of different faiths and denominations.
“The center is doing a lot of good work despite it being hard to get college students out on Sunday evenings for hour-long services,” said Rachel Williams 22, a graduate student at the School of International Service at American University.
Mark Schaefer the University Chaplain at American University for the Kay Spiritual Life Center works to keep spirituality alive throughout the campus.
“I hope students learn to have a greater appreciation and understanding of religious diversity as well as gaining a sense of community across religious lines,” said Chaplain Schaefer.