Study of College Students' Spirituality Shows Promise and Challenge for UU Campus Ministry

Young Adults at the 2004 Bridging Ceremony. The Bridging Ceremony has become a significant rite of passage at General Assembly, as the entire GA community gathers to honor and support those passing from youth to young adult.

Washington, DC - April 13, 2005

A study released today of over 100,000 first-year college students showed high interest in spirituality, broad tolerance for religious pluralism, and a desire for spiritual growth among students surveyed. The study, conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute, found that large majorities of first-year students have an interest in spirituality (80%) and are searching for meaning and purpose in their lives (76%). In addition, researchers found that 48% of students described their current view of spiritual and religious matters as "seeking," "conflicted," and/or "doubting." Dr. Alexander Astin, co-principal investigator of the study, said that the findings show that college students are engaging in a "serious search for deeper meaning in their lives."

"This study clearly shows a need for a UU presence on college campuses," said Michael Tino, UUA Director of Young Adult and Campus Ministry, "We are in a unique position to engage with students whose spiritual journey has taken them to a place where they value justice as well as pluralism in their religious expressions." Study investigators and project advisors also said that these findings pointed toward current college students being a generation of people who balance spiritual needs with other priorities in their life.

Among the challenges for Unitarian Universalists engaging in campus ministry was the tendency of religious commitment and conservative viewpoints (in theology and politics) to go together. One example was the difference seen in views regarding same-sex marriage, an issue on which the UU congregations have made clear statements for over 30 years. Only 28% of students with high levels of religious engagement, for example, agreed that "same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status," as opposed to 76% of those with low religious engagement. The results were similar-if less pronounced, when compared to scores on scales measuring spirituality (rather than religiousness).

Of particular note was the study's findings regarding Unitarian Universalist students. According to the study, "students choosing Unitarian [Universalist] as their religious preference produced what is probably the most distinctive pattern of scores, differing significantly from students in general on 11 of the 12 measures." Specifically, of the 19 religious groups broken out in the survey, UU students had the highest response scores on measures of spiritual searching, volunteer service, social justice work, caring for others, and interest in/respect for different religious viewpoints.

In addition, UU respondents joined Buddhist, Hindu, Episcopalian, Jewish and Eastern Orthodox students in a statistical cluster that combined high scores on spiritual searching, justice work and skepticism with low scores on religious commitment and conservative opinions. 36% of UU students responded that integrating spirituality into their lives was "essential" and 42% reported "having had a spiritual experience 'while witnessing the beauty and harmony of nature.'"

More information on this study and the Spiritual Life of College Students project can be found at www.spirituality.ucla.edu/ .

For more information on beginning, sustaining and supporting UU Campus Ministry, visit www.uua.org/ya-cm and click on "Campus Ministry."

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