University of Utah Top Questions

While it is true that the LDS church has a large influence in the state, Salt Lake City is an open city where most people find their place and love it. It's a big-small city, meaning that you have the great feeling of large cities (I've lived in Tirana, Albania; Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; and Manila, Philipines) but without the headaches and problems of traffic, cleanliness, and crime. U students aren't too liberal, but you'll find the student body very diverse. The Residence Halls claim to be the most diverse on-campus housing in the Western U.S. There are plenty of student groups for anyone to find similar interests.

Just ignorance other people have of or culture. We have the second highest coffee drinkers per capita in the US. We have bars and clubs too. So no not really.

While going to Brigham Young University (Known as "The School Down South" around campus) might prove the stereotypes about the Mormon culture to be true, the U is quite different. The U hosts the majority of the Mormon counterculture in Utah, and so people who perhaps don't accept the Mormon faith, or any faith at all, will feel quite welcome. In addition, if you are of the Christian faith, like me, there are many campus groups with which to involve yourself - Campus Crusade (www.utahcru.com), Ute-Nited (www.utenited.com), Salt Co., or Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.

No. Yes it is true that there are many mormons in Utah but people are not forced to become mormon although just like in any religion, there are people who do not leave you alone. There are many diferent reasons why mormons come to the U of U. This idea is probably not one of them. There is a large Catholic population on campus and many of them attend at Newman but many students do not know about the Newman Center and do not utilize that.

To some degree, but mostly you'll find that the majority of people are not mormon, meaning they are actually real, free-thinking people, not clones of Joseph Smith.

Not at all. The University of Utah has a very diverse student body, and there is a sense that there is space enough for everyone to be unique. There is an overall open, friendly, and tolerant attitude on campus, with many student-led initiatives to increase multicultural awareness and social justice. As a gay man, I felt safe and welcome. I loved my time at the University of Utah.

they are definately accurate to the majority, BUT for those that are not in the majority it is obvious that they are not part of the norm and that creates a big disconect in our student population.

Well, there ARE a LOT of Mormons at the U, but there are also a lot of non-Mormons and ex-Mormons like myself. There is also a high concentration of LGBTQ students here, again, like me. As for Jell-O and other Mormon-related stereotypes, I'm the only person I know that loves Jell-O, including people I know that are Mormon, and like I said, I'm not Mormon. As for race, well, it is predominately white, but there is an increasing number of international students and students of color and there are quite a few student organizations out there to support them.

- Actually, the U's surprisingly liberal; you can do whatever you can whenever you want to. Not everyone is a Mormon either. In fact, that's one of the reasons I love it: The majority of the people I interact with are not. I consider the U like a haven fo