Reed College, located right here in Portland, is often ranked as one of the top undergraduate institutions in the United States. The reputation is deserved. Reed "ranks in the top three of all U.S. colleges and universities for the percentage of graduates who earn Ph.D.s in all fields" and has produced "31 Rhodes scholars, second only to one other liberal arts college." Now for the fourth year in a row Reed has been named the "least religious school in America." Brigham Young University was named the most religious school.
The Princeton Review rankings categorize schools into quirky lists such as "Dodge Ball Targets" for non-athletic schools and "School Runs Like Butter" for well-organized administrations. The lists are compiled based on students' responses to an 80-question survey.
For the religious questions, participants were simply asked, "How religious are students on your campus?"...
Edward Hershey, spokesman for Reed, attributed the godless designation to the highly intellectual atmosphere and general skepticism of the students.
"It's probably more about the willingness of our students and faculty to question everything, including religion, rather than the anti-religious fervor," Hershey said.
Hershey said the survey actually contradicted recent trends.
"On one level it's kind of ironic, I guess, because in fact, even though Reed has a well-earned reputation as being iconoclastic -- I think that's probably where the notion of our Godlessness comes from -- religion is a growing major here," Hershey said, noting that 34 of 287 graduates in the class of 2006 were religion majors.
Religion also often enters the classroom, especially when students read texts in the humanities. "It's a secular place for sure that studies religion a lot," Hershey said.
Reed might not embrace traditional religion (only around 25% of Oregonians, after all, attend church - making Oregon least "churched" state in the union) but I suspect many of the students and faculty would call themselves spiritual people. Oregon's church attendance figures say less about the moral values of Oregonians than the growing inability of traditional religion to speak to modern society.
In the end, I'd bet on a Reedy saving the world over a Cougar any day.
The reverse would be true in football.
