Page 4 of 4 Ultimately, a sense of community helps draw in students.  “Students are looking to build community,” Hillel’s Chestnut says. “On a large campus, students form their communities in many places: their residence halls, sports teams, clubs and within their faith community. Students are looking to be welcomed and to fit in. Sometimes it’s easiest to start in a place where you already have something in common.” But the Sept. 11 tragedy also has drawn some students to religion. Chestnut said tragedies usually evoke two responses: Some look to their faith, and others denounce it. “We are seeing both of these responses,” she says. The Rev. Scott Crocker of Impact Movement, an African American Christian group, says a growing interest in spiritual issues in America could arise from this tragedy alone.   “The recent tragic events in New York and Washington, and the rise in church attendance and prayer gatherings that followed, demonstrated the growing interest in spiritual issues in our country,” says Crocker, who has seen as many as 75 students attending meetings. To this day, Robertson still credits religion as her life-saver.  “I really didn’t think I was good enough for Christians, and I didn’t think I was good enough for God,” she said. “I thought I was too messed-up, too dirty. But I came dirty, and they loved me. I brought all my bags of crap, and they helped me sort through them.” home

Kati Mallady, a sophomore biology and psychology major, is a member of the Neo-Pagan Coalition.  She reads into the love life and future of senior radio and television production student Ryan Dean at the Psychic Fair.