Theology outside the classroom

For quick proof of the diversity of NYU's student body, look to a higher power - or powers, or whatever's at the head of one of the 29 religions with which students identify.

NYU is home to four on-campus religious centers - the Catholic Center, the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, the Islamic Center and the Protestant Campus Ministries - that sponsor religious student organizations and offer creative activities like the Bronfman Center's SHMUTZ drama troupe and the Catholic Center's Music Ministry. Aside from serving as sources of student programming, the centers offer spiritual leadership for many students, faculty and staff, as well as places to gather.

There are also 23 student clubs at the university that identify themselves as religious or spiritual. Some of these groups include the Remnant Christian Fellowship (Presbyterian), the Atheists, Agnostics and Freethinkers, the Value Creation Society (Buddhist), the Latter-Day Saints Students Association (Mormon), and the Canterbury Club (Anglican-Episcopalian). Interested students should turn to the Office of Student Activities Web site - www.osa.nyu.edu - for more information about the club's missions and events.

A lesser-known religious body at NYU is the Spirituality Diversity Network, operated through the Student Resource Center. The network is a referral group for students seeking contact with a religious or spiritual group and provides programming information. Another part of its mission is to heighten awareness of on-campus spirituality and diversity. Resources and information are sent out on the network's listserv, accessible through the Student Resource Center Web site, www.nyu.edu/src. €¢

Local religious centers:

€¢ Anglican - Church of the Transformation, 1 E. 29th St.
€¢ Bahá'í - Bahá'í NYC, 53 E. 11th St.
€¢ Baptist - Trinity Baptist Church, 250 E. 61st St.
€¢ Buddhist - The Three Jewels, 211 E. 5th St.
€¢ Christian Scientist - Tenth Church of Christ, 171 Macdougal St.
€¢ Episcopalian - Grace Church, 802 Broadway
€¢ Non-denominational - Times Square Church, West 51st Street and Broadway
€¢ Presbyterian - Manhattan Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, 123 E. 15th St.