Religion and Politics at Harvard

Since most students returning to Cambridge were not here at graduation time last Spring, the articles on this and the following pages have been reprinted, and in some cases revised, from last June's CRIMSON Commencement Supplement.

These features attempt to answer some questions essential to an understanding of the undergraduate and the College: What are the religious and political opinions of Harvard undergraduates? What transitions in attitudes have undergraduates experienced? What factors cause these changes and, more specifically, what effect does Harvard exert in molding the student's beliefs?

Each undergraduate here has probably formulated some rough notions about the influences of the College; in general, one would expect the atmosphere of the University to exert a "liberalizing" or more questioning attitude toward the legacy of opinion that the student possesses when he arrives in Cambridge. But we have tried to chart these effects on different groups among the undergraduates and to isolate the causes more accurately.

Results indicate, in summary, that although Harvard's influence leads to re-examination of beliefs it rarely induces a reversal of beliefs, and that the period of secondary school education is the one in which occur most significant transitions from family tradition. The College thus attracts the questioning student; it does not produce him.

Features on the attitudes of undergraduate Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, agnostics and atheists are included, as well as an article on the College political spectrum. Each of the religious groups has been covered by a member of the faith discussed, in order to provide a more understanding approach. Any writer's statements do not necessarily reflect CRIMSON policy.

Findings of the features are based on interviews with local religious leaders and the results of a random-sample poll (text on pages 17 and 18) distributed to 400 Harvard and Radcliffe undergraduates. Three hundred and nineteen polls were returned, a response of 78 per cent.

We are especially grateful to David Riesman '31, Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences, who gave valuable advice on the random-sample poll and to the local religious leaders and faculty members who discussed with us the issues involved.

Copyright September 21, 1959, by the Harvard Crimson