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Abstract
An increasing number of students have demanded mental health counseling and reported “spiritual struggles” (Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2021; Bryant & Astin, 2008). Also, a 2003-2007 study conducted by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute involving 136 schools has reported that religion or spirituality is a significant source of joy and strength for college students (Astin et al., 2011). Yet, as college and university campuses across the U.S. grapple with student retention, inclusion, belonging, and well-being issues, students who identify as religious, secular, and spiritual (RSS) are provided minimal solutions (programming, facilities, services) that support their learning experiences and well-being (Patel, 2018; O’Donnell, 2020). While leadership at public higher education campuses must be conscious of the separation of church and state policies, this study provides a list of spirituality-integrated solutions that nineteen of the most reputable public institutions of higher education are already promoting on their campuses without violating the separation of church and state.
Also, this mixed-method study presents evidence for the benefit and necessity of increasing belonging support for religious, secular, and spiritual (RSS) students. In a 2023 quantitative survey conducted with over 2000 participants at a major U.S. public university, all students were asked to rank their constituent interpersonal identities from 1-5 in order of personal significance; the date results returned the top three rankings as 1) gender, 2) academic major, and 3) religious identities.
In the 2022-2023 ethnographic interviews conducted with eight undergraduate and graduate students, the data showed that RSS students rely heavily upon their campus ministries as support for their well-being and mental health. Since campus ministries are privatized with external funding from well-established national/transnational organizations, students from minority cultures or religious backgrounds miss out on the benefits of such well-established service institutions near their campuses.
RSS students who do not have access to campus ministries struggle to find spiritual counseling and often experience a lower sense of belonging. Based on the findings herein, Belonging Spiritually on campuses empowers students to form meaningful connections, increase religious literacy through interfaith dialogue, and perform better academically with an increased sense of well-being.