Religion might be the last thing that comes to mind when thinking of The New School community. The university prides itself on maintaining a creative and progressive atmosphere, so traditional religious institutions may not appear to fall in line with our forward-thinking ethos. However, some students on campus might beg to differ.
According to The New School website, there are four religiously-affiliated student groups at the university, which are the only Student Activity Finance Committee sponsored religious organizations on campus: Ecclesia Christian Ministry, The Jewish Culture Club, Encounter Christian Fellowship, and Remnant Christian Fellowship.
Lauren Hoffman, a sophomore at Lang studying Journalism + Design is the president of the Jewish Culture Club on campus. She said there is a taboo against talking about religion and spirituality on campus. “I feel like the culture here, specifically at Lang, [frames] big corporation and big religion, anything that sort of relates to a systemic belief system, as wrong. Now, especially here, being religious is associated with being in favor of an institution and I don’t think you can directly correlate those things.”
Hoffman believes that, at Lang, institutions are generally perceived as places where injustice often occurs; that they are archical or foster systemic abuse. However, just because someone takes part in an institution, Hoffman believes, does not necessarily mean they inherently agree with or support the pitfalls of that group. But the taboo on talking about religion forces some students to choose between pride in their faith and the assumption of political or social beliefs imposed by the Lang community.
Manasvini Nayar, a third year Parsons student studying Illustration Design came to The New School from India. She grew up Hindu and before moving to New York had never eaten a hamburger because she maintained a vegetarian diet. “Trying new things helps you become a more involved individual, it helps me explore my beliefs,” Nayar said. She explained that when you can expose yourself to experiences and traditions different than your own, for instance trying meat for the first time, that exposure can perhaps lead to a fuller understanding of the world around you, as it has for her.
When discussing spiritual identity, Nayar says, “Some international students don’t want to expose who they are because they think they will be judged.” She believes that even in spite of the encouragement at The New School toward maintaining a global perspective throughout all fields of study, “Some students feel unable to express who they are spiritually.”
One of the four religious groups on campus is the Ecclesia Christian Ministry. ECM is a traditional Christian student group that holds a weekly bible study for both undergraduate and graduate students. “I became a Christian in my undergraduate years through a campus ministry; It has made a world of difference in my life to have God and the fellowship encouraging me. I think every campus should have this kind of presence and support for the students,” said Cindy Han, a junior in the Bachelor Program for Adults and Transfer Students, who serves as the student leader of the club.
When speaking broadly of The New School community, Han believes that, contrary to what Hoffman and Nayar expressed, students are generally fairly open and honest about their religious ties. “People are generally upfront and sincere about whether they have a religious identity or not. New York City is such a diverse city and The New School reflects this uniqueness in its student body,” said Han. “There seems to be a range of practices with most students sharing that they have no religion, are spiritual but not religious, or have a personal faith but are not a part of a community of faith.”
Mark Larrimore, the Religious Studies Director at Lang said “Any students who come to The New School need to do their own thing. There will be some who were raised in religious tradition who are not estranged from it, but I think there will be more who are estranged from, or were never part of a religious group, who are seeking new ways of exploring something.” Larrimore believes some students are looking for ways outside of the bounds of traditional religious practice to connect to their spirituality.
Some are choosing to reclaim their spiritual identity from the institutions that they feel do not represent what they stand for. “One doesn’t want to be associated with the most vocal self-appointing representatives of religion who are politically opposed to the types of things that many of us care about,” said Larrimore. He believes there cannot be a direct correlation between identifying oneself within an institution and social or political beliefs.
“I think it’s valuable for some people to have an anchor outside of all consuming capitalist demands of how to survive and how to market yourself, including marketing yourself to yourself,” Larrimore said.
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Illustration by Rowen Griffith
