Christian students keep the faith
by Joe Zimmermann
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: News
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Appleyard-Smith left her footprint on the church at an early age. She regularly attended religious services as a child, singing in the choir and exploring Episcopalian life through weekly Bible study. When she got older, she strove to give back to her church's community by teaching Sunday school.
At the university, Appleyard-Smith has only reaffirmed her devotion by actively engaging herself in the Episcopalian Campus Ministry and anchoring her academic coursework with more spirtual teachings. Now finishing her last semester as a biochemistry major, Appleyard-Smith, 22, knows exactly what she wants to do with her life after college - she plans to enter the Episcopalian ministry.
At a largely secular, state-sponsored university, finding such a pious priest-in-training is close to impossible. Although there are approximately 15 Christian-affiliated organizations on campus - making it by far Delaware's most represented faith - finding a student who wants to pursue religion as a career is rare.
In an era of expected apathy from the coming-of-age generation, religious students at the university and across the nation are at a spiritual crossroads.
Sophomore Jason Day, president of the Lutheran Campus Ministry, said many students who come to the university are unsure of their own personal religious views.
"I think people don't know how to associate their faith, and they don't seek out their faith when they get here," Day said. "People are confused about their religion."
Christian students at the university are not the only ones who face difficult decisions as a result of the faith's eroding popularity.
Montclair State University junior Ben Jaffe, a representative of the school's Campus Ministry Council and a religion minor, said he believes students nationwide are increasingly losing touch with religion.
"Fifteen years ago, there was a study of Americans who consider themselves religious and 86 percent of the people surveyed said they did consider themselves religious," Jaffe said. "A more recent study found that just 76 percent of people today label themselves as religious. From what I see, there are not a lot of college kids in that group."
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