Religion doesn’t have to be something you leave at home with your parents and your summer… Religion doesn’t have to be something you leave at home with your parents and your summer church camps. Getting involved with a religious organization in college can provide an easy way to meet people with similar values and backgrounds, or to learn about any number of different faiths.

At Pitt, there’s a wide variety of faiths, churches and organizations.

One organization offering plenty of events around campus is the Hillel Jewish University Center. Vice President Michelle Henritzy says she got involved in Hillel freshman year and met her best friend at a Hillel event.

Hillel hosts Shabbat dinners as well as holiday celebrations for students who can’t get home to celebrate with their families. Hillel’s main hub is located on Forbes Avenue near the Starbucks at the corner of Craig Street.

The Ryan Catholic Newman Club finds its home on the corner of Bayard Street and Bellefield Avenue. The Oratory there houses two priests who work primarily with student ministry and are always available to answer questions.

Housing Bible Studies, a weekly “Stump the Priest” talk with ice cream and monthly Friday feasts with a theme – Mardi Gras in February, Italian other times – the Newman Center can be a great place to go to attend mass in the chapel, visit the library or find a homey atmosphere in which to hang out or study.

If you’re looking for a larger Catholic church with a history, just head around the corner to St. Paul’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. Built in 1906, this cathedral holds six weekend masses as well as elaborate services for all major holidays in the church calendar.

Another Christian church, located at the heart of Pitt campus is Bellefield Presbyterian Church, just across from Towers. It offers two services on Sunday and lots of opportunities to get involved with other students through their college ministry, culminating in a Wednesday evening non-denominational service, Cornerstone that has a great worship band and works with the Christian Coalition Outreach to bring in speakers and set up events.

There’s a Lutheran University Center on campus as well, located across from the Carnegie Museum, which is, among other things, host to Pittsburgh Students Active in Lutheran Ministry PSALM is open to any student, graduate or undergraduate. The LUC hosts weekly Wednesday night dinners, a Sunday morning service and a choral prayer with the Pittsburgh Compline Choir at the close of the day on Sundays, beside other fun and service activities during the semester.

Another student religious organization is the Muslim Student Association. In conjunction with Duquesne and CMU, these students host lectures, girls’ nights – last year it was called “Almas” which means “diamond” in Arabic – and social events like dinners and barbecues. They also host Halaqas, in which groups of students get together to study verses from the Quran, the saints or the Prophet or talk about current events. There is a mosque at the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh located near Pitt at 4100 Bigelow Blvd., and CMU has a chapel and a prayer room on its campus designated for Muslim ritual prayer.

The Hindu Students Council meets every Thursday night, giving members a chance to discuss different aspects of Hinduism and decide upon future events. The co-presidents are Sadhana Rajamoorthi and Ravi Pandit, and the contact e-mail is [email protected]. This organization hosts movie nights, color fights as part of the celebration of Holi and dinners sometimes catered by one of Oakland’s many Indian restaurants – India Garden.

Other organizations include Campus Crusade for Christ, Ambassadors for Christ, CrossSeekers/Baptist Campus Ministry, Agape Christian Ministry, Alpha Omega, Art of Living, Chabad House, Lutheran Student Fellowship, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and University Skeptics and Humanists. Information for these groups can be found at this year’s activities fair or at the Student Organization Resource Center’s website, www.sorc.pitt.edu.