The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1 - 166

and shape a personal belief system. Because
many students live, eat, work, and play within
college and university residential settings, it
is necessary for residence life professionals to
learn about and understand the experiences
of all students in the collegiate setting.
Despite the common desire to help students develop holistically, there is a lack of
research on non-religious students (atheists,
secularists, agnostics, and other variations).
These students have reported feeling alienated (Seifert, 2007), marginalized (Goodman
& Mueller, 2009b; Seifert, 2007), oppressed
(Goodman & Mueller, 2009b; Seifert, 2007),
stigmatized (Goodman & Mueller, 2009b),
invisible (Goodman & Mueller, 2009b), and
ignored (Seifert, 2007). Moreover, many nonreligious students reported having experienced
discrimination within the collegiate setting
(Seifert, 2007). While some research on the
non-religious college student population
does exist, it is limited (Goodman & Mueller,
2009b; Higher Education Research Institute
[HERI], 2004; Siner, 2011; Small, 2008). The
purpose of this study was to better understand
the process of students revealing their nonreligious identities.

Research indicates that about
15% of college students consider
themselves to be non-religious and
are not interested in religious and
spiritual matters.

166

NON-RELIGIOUS COLLEGE
STUDENTS
Research indicates that about 15% of college
students consider themselves to be nonreligious and are not interested in religious
and spiritual matters. Additionally, college
students and college-aged Americans constitute the least religious demographic in the
country (Goodman & Mueller, 2009a). Many
present-day colleges and universities tend to
refrain from directly encouraging students to
reﬂect on their inner lives, particularly their
spiritual values and development. This lack of
encouragement can pose a challenge for students while they are searching for guidance
in matters related to personal spiritual growth
(Astin, 2002; Raper, 2001). Although higher
education was steeped in religious tradition for
much of its past, enlightenment ideals during
the late 19th century encouraged a shift toward
valuing positivistic paradigms and scientiﬁc
objectivity (Bryant, Choi, & Yasuno, 2003),
which may seem a natural ﬁt for non-religious
students; however, student affairs administrators generally ignore non-religious groups on
college and university campuses (Goodman &
Mueller, 2009b).
The 2004 College Students' Beliefs and
Values (CSBV) survey revealed that approximately 70% of college students are religious,
with only 17% of respondents claiming to be
non-religious (HERI, 2004). Although the
majority of college students identify as being
religious, researchers have found that religious
students tend to be open to and accepting of
non-religious students: Most religious students believe that non-religious students can
lead lives as moral as those of religious stu-

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 40, No. 2 & Volume 41, No. 1

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