For many first-years, the first few months at Brown means moving into a dorm for the first time, laying down ground rules with roommates and making new friends. But the first few weeks of college can also mean additional, less visible challenges. Among them is preserving student religious identity.
Religious anxiety
In August, the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life reported that about 1,000 students in the class of 2016 - approximately two-thirds of the freshman class - had not registered a religious affiliation on Banner. The normal reporting rate averages approximately 75 percent of the student body, said University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson.
The Office of Religious Life began holding consultation meetings earlier this month with the purpose of creating a task force to explore the religious affiliation response rate. Cooper Nelson said the August data will be used as a baseline until new data is collected from Banner.
"(A task team is) working together to consider several options and dimensions of this data gathering for future classes," Cooper Nelson wrote in an email to The Herald.
Most first-years interviewed said they were unaware of the lower affiliation rate in their class.
"I didn't even know this was a thing," said Tin Nguyen '16. He said that he has rarely discussed religion with his peers.
"I'm not a religious person, so it isn't really a big deal," he said.
Students said that an inherent discomfort with discussing religion may have contributed to the lower reporting rate.
"I think when you bring religion out, people feel like there's this new boundary," said Saba Shevidi '16. "Religion really makes people feel uncomfortable when they begin talking about that."
Shevidi said she had not registered her religious affiliation on Banner. "I do not want my religious affiliation anywhere," she said. "It's something very personal to me."
"I don't think I put anything down," said Ji In Choi '16. Choi, who hails from Korea, said she was not religious but rejected the atheist label. "I'm open to other people's religion," she said. "Just don't get me into it."
Kathleen Huntzicker '16 said she was concerned about reporting a religious affiliation on Banner because she was "worried they'd use me in a statistic" and because she was conflicted about her religious identity. "I really don't know what to answer," she said.
But Huntzicker said she was impressed by the diversity of religion at Brown she has observed so far.
"I wasn't really exposed to any religion" in my childhood, she said. "I actually find it really cool."
A long tradition
The University has a long history of religious tolerance dating back to its founding, Cooper Nelson said.
"Brown is a private, secular institution," she said. "We don't have a religious affiliation. We've never had one."
In that regard, the University follows in its state's footsteps, which was founded on principles of religious tolerance. "Religion should be a free and unfettered and personal matter," Cooper Nelson added, paraphrasing Rhode Island's founder Roger Williams.
But the Brown student body is still largely religious, Cooper Nelson said. About 35 percent of the student body identifies as Protestant, 25 percent as Roman-Catholic and 20 percent of the student body is Jewish, she said. The remainder of students identify as Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religious minorities, and 5 percent of students register as atheists, Cooper Nelson said.
Students' affiliations are complicated by many factors, such as the religious backgrounds of family members, Cooper Nelson said, asking, "What if your dad is Buddhist, and your mother's Catholic, and you're not sure what you are?"
Finding a niche
But some first-years have found religious communities on campus to support their identity.
"I've gone to the (Brown/RISD) Hillel for services on Friday nights," said Rachel Leiken '16, who said she is a practicing Jew. "There've been a lot of people there - it's been really cool."
Leiken said she mentioned her religious affiliation when she had to miss classes to observe Jewish holidays, but that it "wasn't something that's come up very much."
Rudy Torres '16 said religion rarely surfaces in conversations with his peers.
Cooper Nelson stressed the value of continuing to promote religious dialogue on campus.
"Whether or not you're religious, here at Brown, you will have an opportunity to become religiously literate," Cooper Nelson said. "You will need to know how to hear and how to understand the meaning of the conversation you're involved with and the person opposite you may well be speaking out of categories of belief that are critical to their decision-making."
"Most of the people that I've met here are not religious," said Torres, who registered as Roman-Catholic on Banner. "There's not too many."
Torres, who attends the 10:30 a.m. weekly mass at Manning Chapel, described the bonding as a positive experience.
"After we have mass, everyone gets together and has a bagel breakfast," he said. "The whole environment is nice."
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