Is a university campus prayer room any different to providing a bar?

Universities provide bars, yoga classes and gyms on their campuses, so why not places where students of every religion can go to pray? Last week, Delta, the Delft University of Technology magazine, reported that the university was investigating how to provide silent rooms on campus. The JOVD column reads, in part: ‘A university should be a secular place where the gathering of scientific knowledge is the main aim and, therefore, there is no place for religious expression.’ Pubs So I fully expect to see the JOVD calling for the closure of TU Delft’s nine faculty pubs and protesting outside the pottery class offered by the Culture Centre. In 2012, Nos reported that students at The Hague’s hbo college had requested prayer rooms. Student life The reality is universities play a much larger role in the lives of their students and staff than merely a place to study and work, something that is clearly visible in the amenities offered by modern institutions: bars, cafes, sports facilities, concerts, festivals, yoga classes, debates and movie showings.