by Virginia Zignego

College Writer

A recent study conducted by the Higher Education Research Center at the University of California-Los Angeles found the majority of college students hold strong, positive views about religion and spirituality. The study examined responses from 3,600 college students at 46 public and private universities across the nation.

The Higher Education Research Center annually administers a survey to incoming college freshmen that covers a wide variety of topics. The researchers decided to conduct a separate survey about spirituality and religion after the freshmen survey respondents rated being “very well off financially” as their top goal in life, while “developing a meaningful philosophy of life” was rated eighth.

The study about religion and spirituality revealed that more than two-thirds of the respondents, most of who were juniors, cared strongly about the subject matter. Seventy percent of the respondents said they had attended religious services in the past year, and 78 percent said they had discussed religion or spirituality with friends or relatives. Seventy-three percent said their spiritual or religious beliefs had helped develop their identity.

“I’m not surprised [by the survey results],” said Ben Burns, a University of Wisconsin sophomore and assistant at St. Paul’s University Catholic Center. “College is the most likely place for a person to find out about themselves. One of the biggest things we face as students is forming our identity, and religion can play a major part in this.”

UW religious studies professor Colleen Moore said there are other issues that arise when dealing with religion.

“One important thing to remember about religion is that it brings out the positive and negative in people,” Moore said. “It’s more about how people use religion that is significant. One of the issues I touch on in class is how studies find that religious people have more racial prejudices, and it’s important to ask why that might happen.”

Alexander Astin, director of the research center at UCLA and one of the leaders of the study, said professors should encourage students to explore spirituality from the viewpoint of “know thyself.” He believes that finding purpose in studies and life should be an integral focus of a college career.

However, Burns said the number one concern of professors should be teaching the class material to the students.

“I think that if professors find it appropriate, talk about discovering yourself,” Burns said. “But be as neutral as possible and stay away from [expressing] any particular beliefs. It is possible though to teach ‘be true to yourself’ without offending anyone.”

Moore agreed that professors should employ discretion, but there is also a societal factor to consider in spirituality discussions.

“A focus on the material only is not a positive thing,” Moore said. “It’s negative to society. But although I’m personally a religious person, I feel that professors should have a hands-off view of telling students about spirituality and religion.”