Deborah Irwin reached for not one, but two plastic noisemakers.
She listened. She waited. And then, she enthusiastically shook the toys.
The special education deaf education senior joined fellow Jewish students Monday at Chabad House in East Lansing in a century-old tradition of heckling Haman — the villain in the story of Purim. Rabbi Hendel Weingarten said he created Chabad House about two years ago to provide a haven for Jewish students to practice and grow in their faith.
Not only can Irwin continue to take part in Jewish holidays while she's in college; she eats dinner at Chabad House every Friday evening.
But she said sometimes it's a struggle to remain religious while in college.
"This is the way we were raised," she said. "It's difficult to stay as Orthodox when you grow up."
Religious group leaders on campus say membership is thriving. MSU has about 48 student groups affiliated with religion, compared to 15 at Central Michigan University, 23 at Western Michigan University and about 70 at the University of Michigan. The groups represent a wide range of beliefs from Christianity to Buddhism. Studies show religious participation among college students remains relatively high. About 80 percent of students attended religious services during a one-year period and a comparable amount discuss religion with family and friends, according to a study released last year by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.
But some say compared to decades ago, the pressures of college and the country's current social climate push religion to the background of many students' lives.
Remaining religious
Music education and music performance freshman Jessie Neilson was not brought up in a religious household and doesn't practice now.
"I was surprised to see how many people had ashes on their forehead on Ash Wednesday," she said. "I always thought church was a chore ? But my friends said the churches were packed."
Many leaders of MSU religious groups, including Spartan Christian Fellowship and the Muslim Students' Association, said membership has steadily increased during the past few years.
"There is a definite feel and hunger for seeking spiritual tolerance," said Jessica Dunham, a leader in Abundant Life Fellowship. "I think people want more. They're searching. They're hungry. They want something different. They want to know if God is real and if he works."
Religious beliefs at the college age appear to carry on into adulthood, with 84 percent of American adults saying they consider religion an important factor in their lives, according to a September poll from the Center for Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Sociology Professor Jualynne Dodson said she doesn't believe students develop lifelong religious trends during their college years, but they grow in other ways if they take advantage of what a university atmosphere has to offer.
"Students are definitely learning more about who they are and it's a good thing," she said. "For students who take college seriously, the college experience should provide them an opportunity to be exposed to information and if they've done well in their college education, they learn about people in the world and the differences between us.
"With that, they can assess what characteristics they want to strengthen as they grow."
But Dodson said most students don't do that.
"I would say 80 percent come to college to get credentials and complete classes as soon as they can and then go and get a job. They want to have a good time in doing that, but learning is not a priority and religion is not a factor."
Despite Dodson's belief that students don't define their faith in college, Audrey Bloomberg, president of Koach, a religious, conservative Jewish group that is part of Hillel Jewish Student Center, said many students decide in college how active they want to be.
"It depends on the atmosphere," she said. "As you go through college trying to find yourself, you're figuring out what you believe, and your religion is part of that."
Declining devotion
Although roughly 80 percent of students seek spirituality and participate in services, that rate has dropped significantly from about 92 percent in 1968, according to another UCLA survey.
Dodson said increasing tension between religions might relate to the decrease.
"If I had to speculate about the drop, I would say that the atmosphere of larger society with regard to religion is polarizing, and young people on campus may wish not to become a part of such heated debates," Dodson said.
She added that an increase in social and economic confidence from the 1960s to 2003 led people to stray from regular religious practices.
"Factors that we know push people more toward religion are insecure economic situations and insecure social situations," she said. "If you're not sure where your next meal is coming from or if you're not sure if you're going to get a job, then you have a tendency to want to lean on spiritual strength."
Because of recent negative perceptions of Muslims, groups like the Muslim Students' Association may not be experiencing as much growth as they could be, association President Farhan Abdul Azeez said.
He said MSU had one of the best MSAs in the nation in the early '90s, but membership has been cyclic, and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks affected group involvement.
"It's the plight of minorities in America," he said. "The climate that we're living in right now discourages people from getting involved."
Mathematics junior Leah Meerkov grew up in a religious home, and said religion as a priority is something that really depends on the individual.
"Some people go (to MSU) and become more religious," she said Monday at Chabad House. "It depends on the person — how much information they can get and who they are."
