Education, Spirituality and Religion

Knowlton’s Notes: Education, Spirituality and Religion
Submitted to Trojan Times – February 4, 2009
As I write this article for the next issue of the Trojan Times. I am also preparing to give a talk at the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast here in Madison tomorrow morning. As the president of the university I am rarely at a loss for words and I am not particularly anxious about public speaking, but this particular presentation has been more perplexing and challenging. When asked for a title for my speech I came up with the idea of discussing spirituality and education and thus the title “The Coexistence of Two Journeys: Spiritual and Education” was developed. The challenge that has presented itself is the fact that there are those who might think these two concepts are not compatible. In significant circles in the academy (the very formal word for faculty within the broader university community) there would be a debate about the appropriateness of integrating religion and education. This is particularly problematic in public universities where the courts have found that public school sponsorship of religious practices to be inconsistent with the first amendment to our constitution.
There are organizations that have been developed to explore and attempt to understand the whole concept of Spirituality in Higher Education. Large national studies have been completed looking at the trends, patterns and principles of spirituality and religiousness among college students. For example, there was a study of 3,680 undergraduate students completed in 2003 and here are some of the more interesting findings from that study of first year and third year students at large and small and public and private colleges and universities.
* 58% of the students placed a high value on “integrating spirituality” in their lives,
*71% indicating they “gain spiritual strength by trusting in a higher power”.
* Among the third year students or juniors, three in four report that they pray, that religion is personally helpful to them and that they discuss religion and spirituality with friends.
*Although students report a high level of spirituality and even religiousness, they are very tolerant of non-religious people. Seven in ten agree that most people can grow spiritually without being religious and 88% say that non-religious people can lead lives that are just as moral as religious believers.
*Three fourths (76%) have “struggled to understand evil, suffering and death” and nearly half (46%) have at least occasionally “felt angry with God”.
When the students were asked about the interaction of students and faculty when it came to issues of spirituality and education, more than half (56%) say that their professors never provide opportunities to discuss the meaning and purpose of life. Nearly two-thirds of the students say professors never encourage discussions of spiritual or religious matter (62%).
Over half (52%) of the sample reported attending religious services frequently the year before they entered college, but less than one-third (29%) attend frequently by their junior year.
I find some of this data and the findings to be very interesting. I have questions about the role of the university in supporting the journey to find a sense of spirituality and or even religious “fit” in the context of exploration that is necessary in almost all educational environments. At DSU we are faced with educating students to utilize technology in educational settings, creative settings, pure IT settings and in business. There are ethical and moral questions that accompany the use of technology in almost all settings and how does the university facilitate questions of ethics and not touch on moral issues that are often connected to spirtitual or religious thought. I am going to reprint this brief article on my blog and would invite discussion of this issue by submitting a comment to my blog. Maybe I will even get some individuals to come to my new coffee hours (Thursdays at 10:30 AM in the Myxers lounge). Let me know your reactions to this data or your view on the subject.