Spirituality poll gauges religiosity

By Scott Norgaard     3/25/10 7:00pm

The Student Association put faith in its most recent poll, which opened March 8 and surveyed students about perceptions concerning the availability of spiritual resources on campus.Fifty percent of the poll's 250 respondents said they felt spiritual resources at Rice were sufficient, and 40 percent said that they had no problems fulfilling their spiritual needs. However, 80 percent said they would like more online resources available. Currently, there is a database of books and Web sites students can refer to for guidance, but SA Internal Vice President Selim Sheikh said he would like to see these resources expanded.

Sheikh, a Martel College junior, said the survey results may be skewed, since respondents likely tended to be disproportionately religious already. More than 65 percent of respondents said they were either aware of or have used the Religious Studies Department as a religious resource, which suggests that respondents viewed religion as important to their studies. Sheikh was interested in seeing whether students were aware of the department and whether they used it to learn more about different faiths and religion in general.

The poll, which was available to undergraduate students until March 21 at sa.rice.edu, assessed how students viewed the adequacy of campus spiritual resources, Sheikh said.

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Students received invitations to the poll through the SA listserv, college listserves and through the college senators' announcements at college meetings.

Sheikh said he created the survey because he felt that existing campus spiritual resources - help for students seeking spiritual guidance, such as the Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance - might be lacking. The Joint Campus Ministries is a loose conglomerate of leaders from different religious ministries on campus, but Sheikh said before this year, the JCM had not met in four years. He said he felt Muslim students were underrepresented and did not receive adequate religious resources.

"I wanted to see from this poll if students feel a greater need for spiritual resources on campus," Sheikh said.

Selim worked in conjunction with Wellness Center Director Emily Page and Shira Lander, interim director at the Boniuk Center, to develop and refine the poll's questions. Students were asked how spiritual they considered themselves, whether they felt spiritual resources at Rice were sufficient and how often they engaged in spiritual activities, such as praying or attending religious services.

Lovett College senior James Bartlett said a wealth of spiritual resources are available to students through the form of various campus clubs and organizations, such as Agape, Hillel, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Muslim Student Association. However, Bartlett, who is the president of Agape, said Rice students may not be aware of these opportunities.

"I think that there are a lot of things on campus for someone who is looking," he said.

Bartlett also said religion should play a larger role in students' lives.

"I think that a lot of Rice students put spiritual things to the side and focus on the knowledge that they need," Bartlett said. "There are studies that show that a spiritual element is something you should develop."

Sid Richardson College sophomore Michelle Jin, who is not religious, said she was not interested in pursuing such resources at Rice.

"I guess I don't pay that much attention to different religious events that are going on," Jin said. "If other people want them, I hope they are available."

Sheikh said the SA may use this poll to justify adding more online religious resources. One source that might benefit from the results of this survey is the JCM Web site, Sheikh said.

Bartlett said the SA may see these results as illustrating a need to facilitate linking students up with various campus clubs.

"I think at Rice you are surrounded by many intelligent people from so many backgrounds, it would be a waste not to pursue the diversity of perspectives," he said.

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