Macalester and the decline of religion at liberal arts colleges
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Thousands of Presbyterians are meeting in Minneapolis this week for that church's biggest decision-making conference. The semi-annual General Assembly is a chance to set church policy on everything from hymnbooks to foreign relations.
As the Presbyterians convene, one of their associated institutions in the Twin Cities won't have a huge role. Macalester College still has some connections to the church. But they've changed quite a bit over the college's history.
Macalester College in St. Paul was founded by a Presbyterian minister in 1874 as a place to educate the church's future leaders.
But like Minnesota's other prominent colleges -- Hamline, Augsburg, Carleton and St. Olaf -- Macalester has shed most if it's practical connections to the church.
Jeanne Halgren Kilde has written a new history of Macalester College that documents the decline of the role of religion in liberal arts colleges. She is director of the Religious Studies program at the University of Minnesota.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
Dear reader,
Political debates with family or friends can get heated. But what if there was a way to handle them better?
You can learn how to have civil political conversations with our new e-book!
Download our free e-book, Talking Sense: Have Hard Political Conversations, Better, and learn how to talk without the tension.
