 by
Elizabeth Ashford
Staff Writer
Concerns about religious diversity on the Appalachian State University
campus were the focus of the final part of the Campus Climate Survey.
About 1,821 students and 186 faculty and staff responded to the
online survey, which was conducted by the Student Development Diversity
Committee in January 2003.
According to the survey, many respondents indicated a vast range
of religious affiliations, but this report focused on Christians
and non-Christians at Appalachian.
According to the survey, 42 percent of faculty and staff had heard
a faculty or staff member make a negative remark about Christians,
37 percent had heard bad comments about followers of other religions
and 23 percent about people who had no religious or spiritual beliefs.
The numbers were lower when it came to students hearing other students
make negative remarks about Christians or non-Christians.
About 16 percent of students and 3 percent of faculty and staff
responded that they had often heard students making negative remarks
about Christians, while 15 percent of students and 10 percent of
faculty and staff had often heard students making bad remarks about
non-Christians.
Dr. Sheldon Hanft is the founding advisor for the Jewish Students
Club of Appalachian.
“I think Appalachian is a supportive community for faith-centered
people and the Campus Ministerial Association works with Counseling
[and Psychological Services Center] and other campus agencies to
meet the spiritual needs of all ASU students,” Hanft said.
“While many students see Judaism as part of a Jewish-Christian
continuum, Jewish students are sometimes overwhelmed by fellow students
whose desire to witness their Christianity, ignoring the fact that
Jewish students are comfortable with their own beliefs and don’t
want to be the object of conversion activities,” Hanft said.
Dr. Gregory G. Reck is the advisor for Appalachian’s Pagan
Student Association.
“There is a lot of tolerance on campus for alternative religions
or spirituality, but at the same time there’s a lot of misunderstanding
about people who consider themselves Pagan,” Reck said.
“A lot of people assume they are atheists or Satan worshipers,
which is just not the case. Pagans believe in God and Goddess and
they are very close to nature and they’re out to harm no one,”
Reck said.
Dr. Debra C. Edwards is the advisor for Appalachian’s Campus
Christian Fellowship.
“I think there are many excellent student groups that Christian
students can join and fellowship with,” Edwards said.
“I haven’t known of any situations where Christian students
have been mistreated because of their faith. I think there’s
more openness for other religions than for Christianity, and this
is probably a reflection of current American culture,” Edwards
said.
“I think we have to find a way to create a space where everyone
can bring all of who they are to the table, all of their various
identities,” Director of Multicultural Student Development
Tracey L. Wright said.
“I think that’s something for the campus to continue
to work on - understanding that you and I don’t have to have
the exact same view points and beliefs in order for us to get along
and have some type of relationship.
"Finding additional ways to help people understand how to make
those relationships happen, in spite of identity differences,”
Wright said.
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