Organized religion is not the only way college students find meaning
- lblomquist
- May 4, 2018
- 7 min read
By Lilly Blomquist
When junior Emily Keller began her freshman year at Elon University, she immediately joined the religious organization Catholic Campus Ministry to continue partaking in meaningful faith practices that strengthen her religious identity.
“I jumped into it as soon as I came here on campus,” Keller said. “I knew that I wanted to keep my Catholic community close, especially coming to a community that does not recognize one religion. I needed that Catholic culture.”
After committing to the organization throughout college, Keller decided to share her passion for the Roman Catholic Church with others as this year’s student president of CCM.

But, Keller is among the minority of millennials who regularly practice an organized religion. Today, the Millennial generation is the most secular generation in America with 27 percent of millennials attending religious services on a weekly basis and 40 percent of millennials praying daily, according to a Pew Research Center survey in 2015.

The Rev. Dr. Jan Fuller, the university chaplain, said college students, in particular, deviate from organized religion.
Fuller said college provides young people with the opportunity to form their identities and gain a sense of self without their parents’ influence. She said this independence enables students to question their previous religious practices and discern whether religion will benefit their lives, which she said is a normal part of students’ personal development and faith journey.
“They’re engaging in the process of self-ownership, which is a part of a mature spiritual path,” Fuller said.
After students reflect on their religious habits, they either abandon the religion completely, adopt a new religious practice or continue practicing the faith, Fuller said.
For the few college students who do practice an organized religion, Fuller said the experience is only worthwhile when students fully commit to the faith, reflect the teachings on a daily basis and identify the best practices that fit their needs.
Before coming to college, religion was a part of Keller’s everyday life. Her family emphasized religion, so they attended Mass every Sunday and prayed together before meals and bed. Keller’s education also facilitated her religious background since she went to Catholic school up until Elon.
Keller said religion was an ingrained part of her routine at the time, so she lacked an understanding of faith’s purpose and its potential to have a profound impact on her life. She did not connect to religion on a deep level and thus failed to implement the faith in her daily life.
“It was almost too familiar to me, so I didn’t put emphasis on it,” Keller said. “It was very much a mind religion versus a heart religion. My faith was stuck in my head versus it being in my heart.”
In college and apart from her family’s traditions, Keller was able to view religion with a new lens. She discovered that she needed to fully devote herself to religion to feel fulfilled and find meaning.
“Coming to college has allowed me to take what’s in my head and realize it wasn’t enough,” Keller said. “I had to make that connection to my heart of why I need this in my everyday life to fuel me in this world.”
After Keller clarified the importance of religion in her life, she devised her own faith routine. Now, Keller attends Mass four times each week, often participating in the choir and reading the Scripture.
Additionally, she constantly converses with and seeks out God, which allows her to live her life like a prayer.

“It integrates religion in your daily life instead of it only being isolated to that church you go to on Sundays,” Keller said.
Although Keller is a member of the largest Christian denomination at Elon, which comprises 27.2 percent of undergraduate students, according to the Spring 2018 Registrar’s Report, she said practicing the faith is not the norm.
Keller said people sometimes judge her for choosing to adhere to her values instead of conforming to the partying culture in college. She said others judge her for being Catholic because they perceive it as a strict and hypocritical religion.
In the midst of these criticisms, Keller said practicing religion requires strength, commitment and confidence, which she said is often a challenge.
But, Keller is willing to make sacrifices because she said faith has made her more compassionate, accepting and reasonable and has provided her with social support and a sense of belonging.
“I think that such a beautiful thing to do in college is to carry that cross with strength and pride and do it in such a way that we always want to learn more and we’re always trying and fighting for that faith we have,” Keller said.
Fuller said religion is rewarding for college students because it equips them with important skills that help them effectively pursue higher education and navigate college.
She said religion enhances the learning process in college because it helps students contemplate and make sense of the information they learn inside and outside the classroom. She said practicing religion provides students with a reflective mindset that enables them to look inward but also helps them think critically about the world around them.
“It causes us to slow down and reflect on the meaning of our existence here,” Fuller said. “There’s an integration that doesn’t happen if you don’t slow down and think about ourselves.”
Additionally, Fuller said college is often a time in which students feel stressed with their obligations. She said religion is beneficial because it gives students wisdom to deal with anxiety and provides an outlet for students to share their concerns and seek support. The communal nature of religion helps students cope with stress and increases their emotional wellbeing, she said.
To facilitate students’ religious practices and help them reap these benefits, the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life has 12 Christian organizations and hosts a variety of religious events that take place across campus.
Despite the benefits of religion and the variety of religious opportunities on campus, some students choose to abandon the faith in college.
Junior Laura Viksnins practiced the Presbyterian faith growing up because her parents valued religion. Viksnins attended church every Sunday, sang in the church choir until senior year of high school, attended Sunday school and prayed daily with her family.
Although Viksnins had a religious background, she said faith was a reflection of her parents’ identities, not her own. She said she never connected with religion and only went through the motions.
“It was something I did for my parents because it was how I was raised, but I wasn’t necessarily invested in it,” Viksnins said.
Since religion served no real purpose for Viksnins, that attitude carried over when she came to Elon. Without her parents’ supervision and without enough time to prioritize her faith, she chose not to practice it. Viksnins no longer attends church services or prays on a regular basis.
According to a 2016 Pew Research Center survey, 78 percent of American adults who do not identify with religious groups say they were raised as members of a particular religion.
Fuller said younger people might also renounce organized religion because college environments support fact and logic. She said colleges are also part of an individualistic culture that prioritizes self-sufficiency and independence as opposed to groups.
Fuller said other millennials might distrust religion because they perceive it as a flawed institution.
“The way we’ve experienced religion in this country can be off-putting,” Fuller said. “There’s a lot of religion that is so judgmental, limiting and ugly. I wouldn’t want to be part of that either.”
She said many students believe churches are traditional and inflexible because authorities lecture at churchgoers instead of encouraging them to participate and also discuss teachings that are inapplicable to them.
Fuller likewise said students may view churches’ teachings as hypocritical since they preach love and acceptance but can practice forms of hatred and injustice. She said some also think churches are corrupt entities that spend churchgoers’ money on superficial elements.
Due to the flaws and limits of religious practices, Fuller said some young people prefer spiritual practices, which are unique experiences in which they search for meaning in their lives.
“Students are looking for a deep and powerful experience of God and spiritual connectedness, and I think millennials are finding it outside of the church and outside of religious institutions.”
The Pew Research Center said although individuals are straying from organized religion, they are becoming more spiritual. According to the study, six in 10 Americans feel deep sense of spiritual peace and wellbeing while 46 percent experience deep wonder about the universe. Both numbers have increased seven percentage points since 2007.
Junior Claire Grisolano grew up as a member of the Episcopalian faith but only attended church with her family on Easter and Christmas. Due to a lack of exposure to religion, she said she did not connect with it.
“There was nothing about it that really resonated with me,” Grisolano said. “I didn’t buy into the whole thing. There wasn’t anything about it that drew me in.”
When Grisolano started college, she felt overwhelmed with her busy schedule. She decided to attend an Elon Yoga Club meeting to relieve her stress, which sparked her passion for yoga. She is now the president of Elon Yoga Club and makes yoga a daily practice because it brings her peace, understanding and clarity.
Ever since Grisolano found yoga, she learned that church and prayer are not the only ways to find meaning in life, so her perception of religion changed. Grisolano said she views yoga as a spiritual practice because it enables her to have a better understanding of herself and the world around her.
She said yoga has taught her that everyone in the world is connected, which has inspired her to treat others compassionately in order to make a lasting impact on the world.
“I think that when I do things that are good and think good thoughts, I’m giving good energy to the world,” Grisolano said. “I believe that I get that back, and that makes the world a better place.”

Grisolano also gained a deeper awareness of herself through yoga. She said moving through the poses enables her to feel in touch with herself, so she has found self-acceptance and a sense of purpose.
Fuller said God is not solely limited to the confines of a church building, so she said students are not obligated to practice an organized religion to find meaning. Since Fuller acknowledges that the Millennial generation is less religious, she said her mission at Elon is to encourage students to adopt practices — whether that be religious or spiritual — that help them discover their purpose.

“I hope that students can figure out how to not let religion stand between them and God,” Fuller said. “God isn’t contained in religion. God is bigger than all of that. Finding a way to God outside of an institution that is hurtful and limited is a challenge that takes a lot of time, thought and wisdom to figure out, but it really is focused in college.”
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