Among the paperwork incoming freshmen fill out are questions about their religious preferences. Data obtained from the LSU Office of Budget and Planning reveals some religions to be in flux and others fairly stable across the 2010-14 surveys.
Catholics remain by far the largest religious preference listed within the freshman class, with figures ranging steadily between 40.59 and 42.64 percent of the degree-seeking new freshman from 2010-14. Father Robert Stine of Christ the King Catholic Church attributes this to LSU’s proximity to the predominantly Catholic southern half of Louisiana.
“Overall statewide, we’d be in like the 40 to 50 percent range,” Stine said. “Since we’re drawing from all over the state, you’d expect it to pretty much be reflective of the numbers statewide.”
Stine also noted a number of the Catholics on campus are international students from Spanish-speaking countries, a niche the church works to serve them by offering masses in Spanish.
Protestants as a whole saw a slight decrease from 35.36 percent of the incoming freshmen in 2010 to 32.20 percent in 2014. However, Christians without further labels and smaller denominations saw a large increase, going from 31.63 percent to 39.26 percent of those categorized as Protestants.
As the data comes from incoming freshmen, the religious preferences of transfer, graduate and international students are not included. The figures provided thus may not accurately reflect LSU’s overall population.
In spring 2014, LSU International Services said 207 Indian and 90 Iranian graduate students attended LSU. Among incoming freshmen that school year, 25 students responded as identified Hindus and 43 as Muslims.
Electrical engineering junior Saad Ahmad, president of the Muslim Student Association, estimated the number of Muslim students actually increased to several hundred during his time at LSU.
“I think that the number of Muslim students has grown, but they’re scattered more,” Ahmad said.
The multiple clubs catering to the small Muslim student population means the group is less concentrated, Ahmad said.
From Fall 2010 to Fall 2014, students who reported their religious preference as “None Listed” jumped from 14.92 percent to 17.15 percent.
Kenny Smith, an instructor specializing in religion in contemporary America, said this category raised many questions.
“What’s going on in the religious worlds of nearly one in five students in each incoming class?” Smith said. “That is, are they absolutely uninterested in religion? That wouldn’t be shocking, given the growth of the so-called ‘Nones’ nationally, and especially among Millennials.”
However, one should not assume students who do not disclose a religious preference are all atheist or agnostic, Smith said. It is possible that some of the “Nones” at LSU are involved in minority religions and uncomfortable disclosing it.
“Many are very leery about being identified by any kind of institutional structure, or power structure, or authority figure,” Smith said. “They have learned to be very, very careful about ‘coming out of the broom closet,’ as Wiccans and neo-pagans tend to say.”
The “None” category could encompass people who are spiritual but not religious, as well as social movements like the Jediists and followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Smith said.
Stine attributed in part the increase in students answering as “None” to divisions over moral and political issues such as gay marriage and abortion, with those opposed to the stance of their church on such matters often leaving the religion entirely.
Smith said he hopes that further in-depth studies are performed to gain a more comprehensive picture of the religious lives of students at LSU, with him personally interested in details on the “None” category.
“As a scholar of new religious movements, I’m especially drawn to this particular category,” Smith said. “I think we’re likely to find folks involved in new and creative and innovative movements in this category.”
Christ the King Catholic Church stands just a short walk from the Parade Grounds on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, on LSU's campus.
