Cultural Incongruity and Social Status Ambiguity: The Experiences of Evangelical Christian Student Leaders at Two Midwestern Public Universities

Journal of College Student Development, Jan/Feb 2007 by Moran, Christy D, Lang, Dennis J, Oliver, Jenea

This phenomenological investigation highlights the experiences of evangelical Christian student leaders at two Midwestern public universities. These students perceived their public university environments not only as incongruent with, but also as antagonistic and oppressive toward, their values, beliefs, and behaviors. Besides detailing how these students navigated their culturally incongruent environments, the authors introduce the concept of "social status ambiguity" to describe how differing perceptions of the religious identity of these students may result in the concurrent existence of the privileged and oppressed social statuses in that identity domain.

In 2003, the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California-Los Angeles initiated a multi-year research study to investigate the spiritual development of undergraduate students during their college years. According to the preliminary findings ofthat study, today's college students have very high levels of spiritual interest and involvement, and many are actively engaged and involved in religion (Astin, Astin, Lindholm, & Bryant, 2005). In fact, Nash (2001) stated that the revival of student interest in spirituality and religion represents the most vibrant aspect of pluralism on campus today. In spite of the fact that religion has been ranked as one of the most important social identities among undergraduate students (Garza & Herringer, 1986), the religious identity of college students only recently became a topic of inquiry in the field of higher education.

Of the more than 200 religious traditions currently being practiced in the United States (Eck, 2001), approximately 43% of Americans currently describe themselves as "evangelical" Christians (Gallup Poll, 2005). A personalized commitment and response to the gospel message of Jesus Christ and a belief that the Bible is the divinely inspired, infallible, authoritative guide for faith and practice are often recognized as the primary convictions of evangelical Christians (Cumings, Haworth, & O'Neill, 2001). In light of the prevalence of evangelical Christianity in society, the popularity of evangelical Christian organizations on college and university campuses (e.g., Carroll, 2002; Cherry, DeBerg, & Porterfield, 2001; Lowery, 2001; Mahoney, Schmalzbauer, & Youniss, 2001; Swidey, 2003) is not surprising. Reports from the national headquarters of evangelical Christian student groups, such as Campus Crusade for Christ, have highlighted their increase in numbers and visibility on many campuses in the country (Hulett, 2004). For instance, in 2003-2004, Campus Crusade for Christ had organizations established on 1,298 campuses and served approximately 55,272 students. These statistics represent almost a three-fold increase in student involvement from 1995-96 (Campus Crusade for Christ, n.d.). This growth clearly indicates the centrality of the evangelical Christian religious identity to many college and university students.

Several scholars (e.g., De Russy, 2002; Hulett, 2004; Marsden, 1997) have suggested that many college and university campuses are not welcoming of expressions of evangelical Christianity. Over the last six years, a handful of researchers have investigated the experiences of evangelical Christian students and have found that these students do, in fact, report challenges toward Christianity on various college and university campuses. For instance, in an effort to determine how students at Knox College felt about the campus climate at that institution, Hulett surveyed 301 Christian students. She discovered that many of the Christian groups on campus were regularly accused by other students of displaying intolerance and/or arrogance toward others. In Lowery's (2001) phenomenological, ethnographic investigation into the residential and classroom experiences of evangelical Christians at Bowling Green State University, students described themselves as outside of the dominant culture and reported facing challenges to their faith both in and outside of the classroom. Similarly, Bryant (2005) conducted a case study of one campus-based evangelical Christian organization at a large university on the west coast and found that the organization encountered "elements of disdain from other segments on campus" and that students in the organization reported challenges and stereotypes faced in the classroom (p. 23). The students in her study experienced unease due to the contrasts between their own beliefs and behaviors and those of the dominant peer culture at that university. Finally, Schulz (2005), in his descriptive case study of students involved in an off-campus Christian group at a large western university, determined that "students potentially perceive the relative philosophies governing campus social environments to be chilly toward students with Biblically-inspired viewpoints" (p. 35). Furthermore, he found that these students encountered intolerance in the classroom as well.

Though the studies mentioned above have shed light on some of the experiences of evangelical Christian students, none have investigated the experiences of evangelical Christian students in the Bible belt of the nation. The Bible belt is the geographical region in the South and Midwest United States where Christianity is a pervasive or dominant part of the culture. The purpose of this study was to broaden the literature base related to college student religious identity by examining the experiences of evangelical Christian students at two public universities in the Midwest.