that of approximately 3,000
students, 2,500 were church members or church adherents, and that 301
students had become clergymen or missionaries. A similar census of the
men in 1919 showed that of a total of 5,804, 3,501 were church members,
while 943 others expressed some church preference. This included all
forms of belief. These statistics seem to indicate that there has been
very little change in this respect in the last twenty-five years, though
some decrease in church attendance would not be surprising in view of
the great increase in students and the less homogeneous character of the
student body. No one familiar with the student life today, however, will
question the vitality and effectiveness of the religious influences
which reach the students through the various churches and religious
organizations of Ann Arbor, particularly in view of extensive plans now
under way for further co-operation on the part of the churches.

The passing of the old Chapel in the religious life of the University
was marked by the growing strength of religious bodies among the
students. The strong religious spirit of the early Faculty was reflected
by their encouragement of an organization known as the Union Missionary
Society of Inquiry, which followed the great missionary movement of the
first part of the century, and served as a rallying point for
undergraduate religious life. This organization, however, according to
Professor Hinsdale, was "anything but an unmixed blessing, either to the
institution or to the students," though in what particular is not
disclosed. There also existed from earliest days, a Sunday morning
service which the students conducted in the Chapel. The old Missionary
Society came to an end in 1857, to be followed by the Students'
Christian Association, which soon became one of the most effective
factors in university religious life. It was the first association of
this character organized in any American college, and through what may
be regarded as a fortunate accident in its name the opportunity for
membership was left open to women students upon their admission twelve
years later. This brought to it a powerful reinforcement.

The Association professed no creed, the members merely pledging
themselves to religious character and work. The meetings were held at
first on the fourth floor of the old South College, but this proved
inadequate and with the coming of President Haven, the Association was
established in