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Don't let statistics fool you.

That's the reaction throughout the Albany Diocese to a national study comparing Catholic students at Catholic colleges to Catholic students at non-Catholic colleges.

The study found that those at Catholic colleges are less likely to move away from the Church's teachings on social issues and more likely to remain connected to their faith.

However, many campus ministers in the Diocese agreed that the religious association of a school does not necessarily determine the faithfulness or opinions of Catholic students.

The study, "Catholicism on Campus," was released by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University in Washington, based on surveys by the Higher Education Research Institute in Los Angeles of more than 14,500 college students assessed in 2004 and again in 2007 on religious beliefs and behavior. (For a previous story, see the Feb. 11 issue of The Evangelist.)

According to the local campus ministers, it's unfair to lump all non-Catholic colleges into one category: Some have the resources to maintain a Newman Center for Catholic students or a chapel to hold a campus Mass; at other schools, the administration may frown upon religious expression.

"It has nothing to do with Catholic versus secular universities. It has to do with society," said Larry Curran, campus minister at Hartwick College and Oneonta State College, both in Oneonta. "The issue can't be so black and white."

He has also served at the University of Notre Dame and St. Mary's College, both Catholic colleges in Notre Dame, Ind.

About 35 students come to the Oneonta campuses' joint Newman Center. This is hardly the total population of Catholics; at least 250 Oneonta State freshmen identified themselves as such on a paper survey last year. (Hartwick's online surveys don't get many responses, so the number of Catholics there is more difficult to gauge.)

But when Mr. Curran invited Catholic students to gather and pack shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for local needy families, about 95 of them showed up.

"If we had Mass on the campus, I think attendance would be much higher," said the campus minister. When there were campus Masses in the 1990s, he noted, as many as 300 students attended.

Survey says
The CARA study found that, for almost a third of Catholics at Catholic colleges, Mass attendance dwindles during the college years, compared to almost half of Catholics at other colleges.

But this is not a rule, said Joi Kush, a third-year law student at Albany Law School in Albany. She said a student can fall away from faith "if Mom and Dad are not there" to encourage Mass attendance.

That happened to her during her undergraduate studies at University of Denver, where she studied philosophy.

"When you question [your faith], you research. You could either move farther away from your religion or closer to it," she explained.

Ms. Kush moved closer after finding the "Fellowship of Catholic University Students" (FOCUS) in Colorado. She said that her search "actually, in the long run, strengthened my faith."

She did admit, however, that constant reminders at Catholic colleges could motivate student involvement in the faith.

Sister Jean Roche, RSM, offered the example of Maria College, where she is director of campus ministry. Though she said she doesn't know if her students mimic those surveyed by CARA, courses on spirituality and social justice at Maria College theoretically make her students more likely to agree with the Church.

Generation gap?
But Ms. Kush said there's a divide among Catholics of all ages on issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and the death penalty.

"When we're going to college, we're beginning to discover who we are," Ms. Kush said.

A student's position on a social justice issue might change with age, she argued, and that can be true despite the type of college he or she attends: "You're most likely going to question a lot of different things."

Regardless of school type, the CARA survey respondents overwhelmingly said same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. Mr. Curran said this can't be affected by school type; he sees it as a generational shift.

The 30 to 40 active participants at the Newman center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy run the gamut in opinions.

"I think our Catholic students reflect the nation as a whole," said Rev. Edward Kacerguis, diocesan director of campus ministry, chaplain for RPI and pastor of Christ Sun of Justice parish, located on RPI's campus. "I'm impressed by their faith life, their faithfulness and their willingness to serve."

(04/15/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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