New spiritual climate to hit campus life

New spiritual climate to hit campus life
By Robert Burg
`There is a climate for change. The climate of campus would be characterized as anxiety. It has to do with that old story of economic abundance - that story is starting to crumble at the edges.'

University of Toronto Christian Reformed Church chaplain Brian Walsh

Local university groups reviving faith programs,

worship services

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

When Cesar Hincapie started at University of Toronto four years ago, he left behind his weekly attendance at Sunday mass. The demands of school work took over his time. And the idea of sermons seemed to be less relevant in a student environment.

But two years ago, a service at the Newman Centre, the Roman Catholic religious organization serving the university, started Hincapie back on the churchgoing path.

Newman Centre chaplain Rev. Thomas Rosica addressed relevant questions, says Hincapie, 23, a phys-ed major and pre-med student. ``Things like maintaining a balance in life, and having a greater sense of humanity than what surrounds us in the university milieu.

``It is very easy when you are going to university to become fixated on the university world, and you sort of start compromising on your spiritual life.''

From the 1960s to about five years ago, services at the Catholic chapel were sparsely attended. Now, a standing-room-only crowd of more than 400 is at the Sunday morning Eucharist service, and more than 150 at the Sunday evening service.

Hincapie surrounds himself with other students who lead a religious life or are trying to become more religious. And he hopes this is a growing culture.

Some administrators, religious leaders and students involved in religious programs on campus do see an increase in religion and spiritualism in Toronto's campuses. They believe there is a reaction against a culture that values too much materialism.

Others are not so sure.

At Ryerson University, the number of student religious groups has increased from about four to 11 in five years, says campus groups administrator Leatrice Spevack.

``With the coming of the new millennium, I think people are looking for something that will give them more purpose and meaning to their lives, and certainly religion has always done that.''

Patrick Legris, student relations assistant at York University, also sees a gradual, but steady increase in the number of students participating in religious groups at his campus.

``I think that maybe we went through the go-go '80s, and lots of money changing hands and then the shock treatment of a recession, and people started thinking: `Is there more to life than just trying to earn a dollar?' and, `How does the spiritual side of life affect me?' ' '

But Legris does not see a mass explosion of religion on campus. York remains largely secular, he says, and because it is a commuter campus, many religious students choose to observe their faith in their own communities.

Brian Walsh, the Christian Reformed Church chaplain at University of Toronto, does not believe that religion has emerged in the 1990s as a major presence on campuses. Universities discourage religious and spiritual thinking in the classroom, which has an effect on the students' beliefs, he says.

But Walsh does see the potential for a religious movement.

``Articles come out every few years saying that there is an increased interest, and I have been around for a few years to know that there hasn't been a change, but there is a climate for change.

``I would say that the climate of campus would be characterized as anxiety. It has to do with that old story of economic abundance - that story is starting to crumble at the edges.''

There is a trend among Christian students to no longer compartmentalize their faith, Walsh says. They don't hide their religious beliefs in the classroom. If a student is going to be Christian studying business, he or she wants to do that in a Christian way.

Some students are starting to write academically responsible papers that show they are pretty open about their Christian faith, Walsh says. ``That is a success.''

Effective programs can also bring students back to their faith.

Newman Centres were not a priority of the Catholic Church for a long time, Rosica says. Now, restoring religious extracurricular programs was all it took to encourage participation.

``Students want something solid with a tradition,'' says Rosica. ``They don't want the fleeting trends of this age.''

In many cases, Catholic students are drawn to the centre through the nearly 40 extracurricular religious programs created since Rosica became chaplain five years ago.

There is a reflection group on the lives of Catholic saints, for example, as well as lectures on the saints. Interest in the saints is a telling reminder that students feel there is a ``lack of heroes and heroines in our day,'' Rosica says.

The Newman Centre just opened a franchise of the Calgary-based Grabbajabba commercial coffee chain. Profits help run programs.

``We are just starting,'' says Rosica. ``Students today in the secular world present the church with an immense change and an opportunity for hope and for teaching. There is a thirst for spirituality and for solid teaching. If we offer them something that is solid, that is consistent, then, we can offer them something for the long haul, and people will come.''

Jews in Toronto's campuses also run effective extracurricular programs.

Jewish identity and pride is strong on campus, says Zac Kaye, executive- director of Jewish Campus Services, which runs Jewish non-academic programs at Toronto-area campuses. At the same time, assimilation is a concern, as university students experience new ideas seemingly far removed from their Jewish childhood education.

As a result, Jewish Campus Services is emphasizing programs that link Judaism and Jewish culture to what students feel is relevant.

``There is a need for an informal Jewish experience that provides different gateways to Judaism,'' says Kaye.

York University's Jewish Student Federation recently sponsored a well- attended multi-faith music and story telling program. It also sponsored a downtown walk to discover vegetation that was referred to in the Bible. It was led by York University environmental studies student and federation environmental chair Tally Wolf.

``In the Bible is the concept of tikkun olam or repair the world,' ' Wolf says. ``That is one of the many Jewish calls for action throughout the Torah.''

Jewish Campus Services also sponsors Jewish programs led by Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative religious leaders because students want to get beyond the differences.

One of the largest religious groups at York University are Muslims who regularly attend daily services. That also is the case at Ryerson; the university recently decided to open a multi-faith room to provide space for daily services for its three Muslim associations.

Husein Madhavji, chairman of the Ryerson Ismaili Students Association, a Shiite Muslim branch, says that 15 to 20 Ismaili students attend the daily jamatkhane (evening) service. The sense of community for the small Ismaili population on campus contributes to the attendance, he says, but the religious values are just as important.

``I always used to think I had to be rich and famous, and coming to university, all I cared about was getting my career started,'' said Madhavji, 21. ``And then I just went to jamatkhane, and you just see people who feel so content with themselves and they don't have that much.

``I still want to be successful, but not just for myself. I want to be able to take care of my family and my community.''

CAPTIONS:
ANDREW STAWICKI/TORONTO STAR
GRABBING A JAVA:
Natasha Klukach, left, Cesar Hincapie and Susan Michael at the
Newman Centre.
COLIN McCONNELL/TORONTO STAR
BIBLICAL ENVIRONMENT:
Ran Gilad, left, Tally Wolf and Arie Fish are on a downtown park
walk sponsored by York University's Jewish Student Federation.