Boniuk Institute surveys religious tolerance among undergraduates

Almost 90 percent of students feel that Rice is a safe space for their religious beliefs, according to a new survey of undergraduate students by Rice’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance. The study also found that a small minority of students do not feel their religious beliefs are supported.

Boniuk Institute Co-Director Elaine Howard Ecklund presented the results of the institute's first-ever survey of the religious landscape of the Rice campus. Photos courtesy of Dante Zakhidov/Boniuk Institute

The survey was conducted this spring by Elaine Howard Ecklund, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair Professor of Sociology and co-director of the Boniuk Institute, in collaboration with Laura Johnson, the institute’s associate director of operations, and a team of student research assistants. Ecklund and Johnson held a public forum at Sewall Hall April 16 to present the survey’s findings.

“College is a very special time, a time when people are wrestling with a lot of different kinds of identities,” Ecklund said in explaining the rationale for the study. “It’s the perfect time to ask questions about where you are with religion because a lot of you are asking yourselves those kinds of questions. This helps students figure out who they are and how they relate to others.” Ecklund is also director of the university’s Religion and Public Life Program.

Johnson said the idea for the study was first raised by donor and founder of the institute, Houston philanthropist Dr. Milton Boniuk. “He is very interested and passionate about what we can do at Rice to promote religious tolerance,” she said.

The survey was completed by nearly 2,000 students, with the aim of learning more about the religious landscape of the campus. Among the questions asked: Which religious groups are represented? Do students experience prejudice and discrimination? What can Rice do to improve the culture of diversity?

“The results provide both an important gauge and an opportunity to inform a more productive dialogue around religious tolerance,” Johnson said.

Christians and the nonreligious constitute the majority groups among the student body, the survey found, with each making up approximately two-fifths of the population. Ninety-four percent of students said they always treat people of other religious faiths with respect, while 57 percent said they are always treated with respect by people of other religious faiths. In practicing their faith, 32 percent of the respondents said they pray often (43 percent said they never do) and 20 percent said they attend a religious service nearly every week (26 percent said they never attend).

The Boniuk Institute's presentation in Sewall Hall was attended by several dozen members of the Rice community.

While 88 percent of students felt Rice is a safe space for their religious beliefs, the study also revealed that 38 percent of Hindus and 29 percent of Muslims felt campus facilities for their religions are inadequate, compared with only 6 percent of Christians.

Ecklund is working to prepare a report on the survey and believes it will initiate important conversations across campus and beyond. “Rice is a secular institution, but it’s also nestled within a very religious context,” she said. “We are both in the middle of the Bible Belt and in the middle of one of the most religiously diverse cities. Houston is one of the gateways of migration and one of the top immigrant cities. With immigration, we have an increase of the diversity of religions that are represented and we also have increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of American Christianity. A university like Rice is well-positioned right in the middle of this context.”

Students interested in becoming involved with the Boniuk Institute’s work through the student-led Boniuk Council, may contact Dan McNamara at dan.mcnamara@rice.edu.

The Boniuk Institute was founded in 2013 with a gift from Boniuk and his wife, Laurie. It is an expansion of the Boniuk Center that was created at Rice in 2004. The Boniuk Center was dedicated to fostering tolerance among people of all and no faiths, and to studying the conditions in which tolerance and intolerance flourish. The Boniuk Institute’s expanded mission focuses on research, education and community engagement.