This “too Catholic” question pops up from time to time. Boston College is a Jesuit school. The Jesuit message of “men and women for others” is not doctrinaire or even “religious” Jesuit education is about service and critical thinking in a broad range of study. .For some students, attending a Jesuit school is more a question of comfort than religious worship. At BC, about 2/3 of the students are Catholic. The percentage is higher at ND, lower at Georgetown. About ¼ of the students at BC went to Catholic high schools, about 1/2 from public HS, the remaining 1/4 from prep schools/secular day schools). Many, maybe most, of the Catholic students at BC don’t go to mass, so there is no reason to feel “left out”. My son is a freshman at BC. Most of the other schools he was considering were not Catholic. At BC, he has been to church once or twice this year. He is nominally Catholic but religion is not central to him. His roommate is not Catholic. He is taking a class called “Perspectives” which is part of the philosophy and theology core curriculum at BC. Yes the class includes readings of Aquinas and Augustine, but also the Hebrew bible, Aristotle, Spinoza, Kant and Karl Marx. This is really a question of social/cultural fit, because the academics at BC are strong. Unconsciously, many prospective students wonder if there other students who share their values, habits, traditions and cultural touchstones. There is nothing wrong with people wanting to be around others like themselves, but it can be a limiting factor. The messaging at BC is inclusive and there is no discrimination towards non Catholics in admissions or on campus. The BC “vibe” includes the school’s Jesuit identity, but is more a product of the dominant student body demographic…bright, achievement oriented, sporty, affluent suburban types from the East Coast metro areas and increasingly from California as well.
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