The environment at the nation’s leading universities is often academically intense, sometimes highly competitive, and highly secular. Prospective students and families considering the pros and cons of attending one of the nation’s top ranked schools are right to wonder if it will be difficult for freshmen who are Christian to stay strong in their faith. However, despite the real challenges they face, Christian students reflecting on their experiences report a wealth of opportunities to grow in their faith. Below is an interview between Harvard student (and Harvard Faith and Action member) Ike Adeyemi-Idowu and freshman Emily Chen, exploring how the first year of college molds and shapes a student’s faith:
Ike Adeyemi-Idowu: Did you worry about your faith after deciding to attend Harvard?
Emily Chen: I definitely did. Harvard has so many intelligent people, and I knew that Massachusetts was a very liberal state, so I expected to be challenged a lot. But I was comforted because I knew Christian groups would provide a really good support network. When I was making my college decision, finding a good Christian community was really important to me. During Visitas, I met many other pre-frosh who were also checking out the Christian groups, and the older people [current upperclassmen students] told me how strong the Christian network was. So, in the back of my mind, I was worried: what if I’m not able to defend my faith, or people ask me questions that I’m not able to answer? But I also knew that there was a lot of support for Christians here.
Ike Adeyemi-Idowu: How do reconcile your identities as a Christian and a Harvard student?
Emily Chen: … people here are very open to discussion, which I appreciate. Over the summer, when the Supreme Court decision came out about gay marriage, someone on the Harvard 2019 Facebook group, although he was clearly in support of it, asked the question, “Does anyone have opposing views?” He wanted to hear what people thought in a respectful way. Back home, people wouldn’t have asked. They wouldn’t have cared what people thought unless it was the popular view.
So there was not a good forum for discussion at home—at least not at my high school. People’s willingness to discuss here helps me learn more as I find out about parts of my faith that I don’t understand. And here, all my fellowship friends are classmates. Back home it was like church friends, then school friends. At Harvard, I see Christian friends in class and know the community is still present.
For the full interview, visit the Harvard Ichthus.
