Universities Skeptical About Use Of Term 'Religious Renascence'

Newsweek's report of a sudden collegiate religious revival has been received with skepticism at several universities.

Although enrollment in religious courses has increased recently at such places as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, many students seemed to feel the nature of any religious renascence to be personal rather than official. One Princeton student reported that he wanted to "study religion," but not to let it "overwhelm" him.

Perry Miller, professor of American Literature, stated that there was "much more interest in religion recently" at Harvard. "But it's nothing that Jonathan Edwards would call a revival," he said.

Samuel H. Beer, professor of Government, asserted that there had been a "gradual increase" in religion at Harvard since 1947. One professor, who wished to remain anonymous, said that he did not know what Newsweek meant by a "sudden renascence." "I doubt if Newsweek does, either," he added.

College interest in religion seems to be a result of individual choice, not any mass movement. At Amherst and Princeton, for example, there have been recent protests against compulsory chapel. This culminated in an Amherst riot last Wednesday night,

A member of the Daily Princetonian, which reported that the majority of Princeton students opposed required religion, said that "there is a great repugnance to dogmatism." He felt that although there were "a good many atheists at Princeton," each student should be free to "decide empirically whether he wanted to go to church or not."

At Amherst, student opinion was that personal religion was sometimes weakened by compulsory chapel attendance. "It's turned the whole thing into a game," complained one student. "You miss enough chapels and you get a card; a few more, a letter from the Dean; miss again, and you get a personal letter from the President."