Ball State University is a melting pot of people from different places, cultures, religions backgrounds and life experiences. All of these things interplay with each other to create a persons worldview. These things can be affected and even change when making the transition into college.
Lindsey Keller, a junior education major, said than before coming to Ball State, she was afraid she wouldn’t find anyone who shared her beliefs and values.
“I thought everyone just went out and partied all the time and I wouldn’t have any friends. Luckily, that didn’t happen.” She said, explaining that she got plugged into a Christian organization called The Navigators.
“The Navs’ are a bit smaller than some other organizations like Cru, I feel like they are really intentional. They are different in the fact that they kind of look for people who are already strong in their faith, while Cru is more about evangelism.” She said, saying that she likes the experiences she has had with the organization, but noting that there has also been plenty of struggles along the way.
Lindsay and a few other girls from her bible study are trying to start a ‘bible discussion group’ for non-believers in their dorm, but are having some difficulty gaining interest.
However, some students are very open to the ideal of exploring faith in college.
At Ball State University, Rachel Kraus, a sociology professor who specializes in religion and spirituality, teaches Sociology 427 which is an advanced course on organized religion and an online spirituality class titled “Self in Society.” Kraus says sometimes students take her class because they try to find themselves religiously.
“I get the religious spectrum,” says Kraus, “ I get both extremes and everything in between.” She says she gets a lot of feedback from her students saying they’ve learned a lot about other religions that they never knew before. Kraus says her class reaches maximum or near maximum enrollment each term and she always has a mix of different types of students.
Transitioning from high school to college introduces a lot new elements in a students life. They may be in a new town, surrounded by new people, which entails new perspectives. One of the ideals that students are exposed to is religion. According to the most recent American Religious Identification Survey, about 70% of americans identify with an organized religion.
She said that it makes sense that student will try to understand their faith more in college.
“It makes sense that people would search different religions in college, I’m sure they search in a lot of areas” says Rachel Kraus, ”Generally they’re living on campus and they’re out of their parents homes for the first time. They’re introduced to different people more diverse ideas, more diverse topics, ideas and assignments than they would have in high school, and diverse clubs and activities.”
Many students say that such clubs and activity helped them transition from high school to college, but that it can also be challenging to figure out where you fit in.
Andrea Perry, a third year telecommunication major, thinks one of the reasons it can be difficult to connect with spirituality while attending a university is because that’s not whats expected for a college student to do.
“When you are at school there is the typical stereotype that goes against following religion like getting drunk and partying. You want to have good friends and fun, but religion just seems so serious. It doesn’t seem like the cool thing to do.” said Perry.
Janie Penner, a third-year journalism major, says she knew it would be difficult incorporating her faith into her everyday life on campus.
"Coming here I knew that I was not going to be in a place where religion was a priority. It’s not like I'm at Taylor University where you have worship scheduled into your day. It’s my responsibility now and that makes it a little more personal." she said.
Penner also feels like campus life is not always conducive to spiritual growth, and thinks this could be why many students lose faith when coming to college.
"I heard that most students actually end up lousing their faith when coming to college, and that makes me kind of sad. I think some it is who they hang out with, and hearing different messages and viewpoints from professors and friends. Like, if you have a professor or friend who is atheist and you are never standing up for what you they really think.” she said.
However, some students say they are not interested in exploring religion or faith in college because it goes against what they personally believe.
Junior Tyler Macy says he changed his religious views. “I come from a very conservative small town where it was wrong not to be a Christian.”
Macy says he was a Christian until sixth grade, he realized how much he didn’t agree with what was being told to him.
“Religion isn’t a bad thing, a lot of people benefit from faith,” Macy said, “however there are examples where it can go wrong, it’s not a good or bad thing, it depends on how it is used by people.”
Jessica Cantrell, an Entrepreneurship major at Ball State says the biggest thing that turned her away from organized religion is their view on homosexuality. “My Dad is gay,” says Cantrell, “westernized religion that are popular goes against homosexuality. That really doesn’t go along with my beliefs—strongly.”
Some students don’t always feel conformable expressing their faith on camps.
Ball State student Solaiman Sajjad says most Muslims are very aware of the negative way the media portrays people who follow his faith. As president of The Muslim Student Association (MAS) at Ball State, he wants to use programs such as Islamic Awareness Week to expose the truth about Muslims in America.
There are currently over 100 Muslims in the Muslim Student Association, and more than 200 Muslim students on campus. Sajjad says he believe Ball State can be a positive place for Muslims to live,
“In the past two years the population of Muslims has grown tremendously. We are getting more help organizing activities and that puts more emphasis on Ball State to accommodate.” He explained
According to a previous Ball State Daily News article, however, not all Muslim students feel this way. Abdurrasheed-Wagner says she has heard people shout at her from their cars, and had teenagers tell her not to blow up the mall while shopping.
Because of the MSA efforts to reach out to the campus and community, Sajjad says more students are noticing and recognizing Muslims on campus.
“I openly practice my religion on campus. As a Muslim I’m suppose to pray five times a day. Usually I find a spot in the library or another building. Sometimes people have walked by and seen me pray or worship, even along with other friends which can be more intimidating, but we haven’t really had a problem.” Said Sajjad.
Sajjad says some of his friends wish there was a prayer room that students could use to worship on Ball States campus.
“We want a prayer room to avoid a “freaking out” incident of other students. We try to find a quiet spot to pray, and maybe there is one day and the next day there is not. We have approached Ball State and they said they can not give us a prayer room because they would be giving us special treatment.” He explains.
Some religions organizations have had struggles. There are more Christian organizations on campus than any other religion. Some of these organizations have had significant growth and success, while others have struggled to maintain members. For example, Impact, a Christian organization that branched off from Cru and that focuses on the African American Community has struggled to maintain membership. After a year of inactivity, they have reemerged on camps as a christen organization aiming to support all minority students.
The only other Christian organization’s targeted towards minorities are Bridges, an organization focusing on international students that also branched off from Cru, and Alpha Nu Omega, a christen sorority/fraternity. Currently Alpha Nu Omega is inactive on campus.
Meagan Stevens, the current president of Alpha Nu Omega, joined a Christian Sorority/Fraternity to help her grow spiritually. Stevens believes Alpha Nu Omega is vehicle to grow closer to God.
“The message sets it apart from other Greek Organizations,” Stevens said, “Our colors, Greek letters, everything is Biblically based and comes straight from scripture.”
She said the organization decided to become inactive so the current members could work on their personal walks with the Lord before accepting new members. There are only a couple of current members on ball states campus.
Andrea Perry has advice for students who are unsure about spirituality and religion.
“I would just go out and try things to see if anything hits your heart, or it might just show you that you don’t really believe in this. I still think it’s important to test things out because if you do one thing and attach onto it you are missing out on so many other things. So go to these events and just don’t sit there and watch but actually talk to people and see what they believe.” Perry said.
