Barnes, the reverend of the Episcopal Chaplaincy, believes "people who are not religious themselves are more interested in learning about other people's religions than [they were] 10 or 15 years ago."

This, he believes, is reflected in part by national news magazines and television networks, which are including more stories on religion and religious communities.

Barnes also regards the increased number of recognized student organizations and communities of faith as a reflection of the greater diversity in the student and the University community.

Why Now?

Several explanations have been raised for the increased interest in religious questions and spiritual matters.

Memorial Church's Humanist Chaplain, Thomas M. Ferrick, offers a secular perspective on this increased religious awareness.

He believes that the disillusionment of the Watergate era, followed by the "extremes" of the 1980s, have produced several decades with an emphasis on the self.

Ferrick says that the administrations of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald W. Reagan have caused many students to become disenchanted with the political process.

"I think that this is all connected by a need for personal meaning," Ferrick says. "Students seem to be less political than they used to be...and I think they are seeking community through religious groups."

Ferrick says he regrets the shift from the broader social action of the 1960s to the "private and the personal" because "the foremost characteristic of an educated person is a social conscience."

Indeed, Ferrick says that students aren't as interested as they used to be in international crises or in domestic ideological struggles.

"Their private needs are more important than their social ideals," Ferrick says.

Whereas Ferrick focuses on political disenchantment, Steinberg, the director of Hillel takes a broader view. He points to the "collapse of ideologies" as the primary reason for students' returns to religion.

Steinberg says that the "hollowness" of secular ideologies has engendered a profound sense of uncertainty among students--the same uncertainty that has led to the rise of fundamentalism in the Near East.

"We, as a group of people are now looking for frameworks...of meaning which have informed our cultures and [are now] trying to reestablish a relationship," Steinberg says.