Keeping the Faith in College

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Hala Shah, a 21-year-old New York University senior, wasn't so lucky with her freshman roommates. Shah, who was raised Muslim by her American mother and Egyptian father, found herself becoming more religiously aware and observant when she arrived at college.

Her roommates, however, were not understanding of the changes she was undergoing, which included adopting a more modest style of dress and not attending parties where alcohol was served. (She had always abstained from drinking.)

"I was just starting to learn my faith for myself," she said, "It was difficult being around people who were often criticizing me."

The tension reached its apex when one of the roommates invited her brother to spend the night in their room. Shah objected, saying that her religious beliefs as well as her cultural upbringing forbade her from sleeping in the same room with a man other than her own brother, father, or, eventually, husband.

A residential assistant got involved and agreed that Shah's religious beliefs had to be respected. And Shah took away an important lesson.

"I learned how to talk to people about what my religion is about," she said. "I know now that I should always make an effort to maintain our common ground."

For religious minorities in secular schools, finding a community of like-minded individuals can be a challenging, but rewarding experience.

At Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, Elli Eizik, an Orthodox Jew, was very involved in his campus chapter of

, an organization with a presence on more than 500 campuses nationwide.

Eizik, who graduated from Rutgers in January 2005, had transferred to the school after a semester at Yeshiva University, which is affiliated with the Orthodox movement. A secular school was a better place for Eizik, he reflects. At Yeshiva, he said, "I was 20 years old and being told still how to dress. I wanted a place with a more liberal attitude, so I could spread my wings and become my own person."

Being in a secular environment did not shake his commitment to Jewish observance, such as keeping kosher and observing the Sabbath.

"If anything, it strengthened my resolve," he said. Seeing other students, particularly unobservant Jews, going wild with alcohol and dating was "shocking" for Eizik.

"It could boggle your mind, to see the stupidity of these kids," he said, "It was an amazing thing."

Being committed to both his Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and his academic studies helped Eizik resist those temptations, even if they were sometimes, well, tempting.

For other religious college students, like the University of Georgia's Anne Story, faith is a steadying force during tumultuous times. Five days before leaving her Dallas, TX home for school, Story found herself in the emergency room, literally sickened with sadness after learning that her boyfriend of two years had been unfaithful to her.

The experience was traumatic, but it left her with a renewed commitment to her religious life that would come in very handy when she was faced with the temptations and changes that college can bring.

"There's no way that [experience] wasn't planned for that specific moment in my life," she said. "I learned to completely rely on God instead of putting things before God."