dig deeper, dig deeper this time

[lotesse]

Do any of you have any intel on the nature of Jesuit universities/colleges? I have a cousin who'll start college year after next, and she's looking for a city school in the Great Lakes area. Both Loyola and DePaul are good geographic options, but we're concerned about dropping her into a politically conservative environment - and about financially supporting a religious institution. Thoughts? Opinions? Anecdata? What actually happens when religious institutions sponsor educational ones?

Comments

[schoolpsychnerd]

I'm at Loyola and it's really liberal. They covered my BC before the federal mandate. Like the only aspect of Catholicism in my part of Loyola is crosses in the class but they're small and pretty out of the way. I was really impressed with the social justice aspect that focuses on serving all communities. In the Ed. department at least a lot of people have their ally flags and my professors are all super liberal. I guess it depends on the department you're in but I have an old Knox professor who teaches in the clinical psych department and she loves it. I've heard that as a trend Jesuit universities can be on the more liberal side. I don't think my program has anyone even close to conservative

[lotesse]

Hey, you, I didn't know you were over here! *waves, subscribes*

That was sort of the scuttlebutt I'd heard, but my mother & aunt have concerns. What do you think of the school in a broader sense? Are you teaching there?

[schoolpsychnerd]

I'm a grad student but all the faculty I know seem really happy. Most of them aren't Catholic and came because they identified with the social justice mission. I get the sense that the school on the whole is fairly liberal. I kind of find that it's more in the vein of "if you want to participate in Catholic life you can but it's not a must" esp. in a bigger city like Chicago. I know another Knoxian who goes there and she's a Ph.D candidate in the psych department and she was super SASS and feminist in undergrad. She also seems really happy there. What department is your cousin looking at?

[lotesse]

I don't think she knows yet - she's an all-round bright kid who's still kind of trying to find a focus.

[musesfool]

My information is 20 years out of date, but I went to Fordham at Lincoln Center and it was very liberal. At my campus, we weren't even required to take religion classes - we had the choice of philosophy, ethics, or religion (up in the Bronx campus, I think some religion classes were mandatory, but that may have changed).

[lotesse]

Any information is good!

Did you find that Christianity was socially assumed, or was it more the usual mix of American undergrads?

[musesfool]

At the time, no, there was no such assumption; the fact that it's in NYC meant there was a fairly substantial Jewish segment of the student body, as well as people from other non-Christian religions. Also, it was a mix of traditional undergrad students and returning to school adults; in the same building we also had the school of social work and the MBA program, and the law school was also on campus, so it was definitely a mixed population.

[msilverstar]

I had a fandom friend a few years ago who was an undergrad at the University of San Francisco, she felt very comfortable there.

[lotesse]

Good to know - thanks for the data point!

[ithiliana]

Entwife did her entire education from grade to doctorate in different Catholic universities (she's a Fordham grad too! great medieval program), and spent most of that time agnostic, ending up atheist--the Jesuits especially are not about policing religion when it comes to education.

But that's not always true of all religious institutions (Baylor is a depressing example in the past few years!)--one thing to check out is whether you have to sign a loyalty oath or its equivalent!

[lotesse]

Thanks for the heads-up re: loyalty oaths - that seems major.

[ithiliana]

*nods* That's not technically what they're called--but it's sort of affirming that you share the core values plan to live your life according to the university's stated system, etc.

It's been fascinating watching Entwife who is product of a private, religious educational system, interact with the students here who have certain ideas (based on their religion) what that must mean (and how it doesn't).

Plus, Jesuit training! She's never lost an argument in any meeting evah.

*snickers at some GOOD memories*

[emei]

I went to a primary school run by a small Christian church (somewhat similar to Baptists) - that was supposed to be strictly controlled by our secular education system and not allowed to let religion interfer with education. But the religion really, really interfered, socially and in the classroom, especially re: sex ed and opposition to Darwinism.

Jesuit-run colleges might be awesome, I've no idea! But as a data point (different country & level of education, mind), from my experience I wouldn't recommend anyone to enroll in education run by a religious institution. Or at least don't expect it not to matter.

[lotesse]

Thanks for the info - I appreciate it!

[skywaterblue]

I gather from Catholic friends that there can be a financial benefit to be studying theology or social work at one. Other than that, there's no noticeable difference between Loyola students and DePaul students as I walk around Chicago.

And Loyola's Northside campus is in a fairly Left neighborhood, even by Chicago standards. I used to live a couple of blocks away and it abuts Andersonville (a neighborhood friendly to Lesbian families) - feminist bookstore, check, little cafes, etc.

[lotesse]

So the living situation might cancel out any social negatives from the college? Good to know, thanks!

[skywaterblue]

Sure. I wouldn't describe Roger's Park/Loyola Northside as a very hip neighborhood, though. (At least, no where near compared to Wicker Park, where I live now.)

And there are some 'rough' bits around Loyola. Not that bad, but it feels a bit suburban - it isn't suburban, it's still Chicago - and it's a large campus. Kids from suburban or rural neighborhoods should stay in the dorm for at least the first year. Probably the shittiest thing about that neighborhood is that even if you take the express bus, you're still looking at 25+ minutes to get to the Loop.

DePaul's in a much more hip, central area of Chicago and when I was couchsurfing this past summer I had a month sublet from some nice DePaul kids not too far from the actual campus. There was one really Conservative kid getting some kind of MBA, but the rest seemed to fall on a moderate spectrum of normal.