College students face ideological pressure but Thanksgiving can help fix that

Every fall, millions of American families send their sons and daughters to college with a mixture of pride and trepidation. They hope their students will grow in maturity, sharpen their minds, and enter their professions with confidence. But often it’s not just a tired student coming home for Thanksgiving break. Something has changed.

This is the silent crisis playing out on campuses across the country. While parents are waiting for education, many universities organize retraining. The classroom, once a place of honest exploration, has become a platform for ideology. In my new book “University Without Communism” I argue that higher education is shifting from shaping students through truth to shaping them through cultural relevance.

This change rarely happens suddenly. It is slow, thin, and mostly invisible to those living in it. Students are immersed in environments that question faith, reshape morality, and replace faith with relativism. They are encouraged to deconstruct everything outside the institution’s worldview.

But here’s hope. Culture never has the last word. Thanksgiving break offers something precious and increasingly rare in the academic calendar: time. A time to reflect, reconnect and remember.

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Thanksgiving isn’t just a pause in the semester. This is a sacred opportunity. It brings students back to the people who knew them before the pressure to conform. It opens the door to truth-telling, spiritual reflection, and restoration of identity. In a world that tries to blur lines and erase roots, this holiday can remind students of exactly who they are.

This isn’t just about political drift. It is about spiritual foundations. Many students go to college with a vibrant faith, but return home unsure of who God is, what is true, or why the truth matters. And it doesn’t last long. Sometimes it only lasts a period.

That’s why families can’t just treat Thanksgiving as a time to relax. It’s time to re-engage. Don’t settle for small talk around the table. Ask real questions. Invite open conversation. Explain life and identity to your student with love and clarity. Remind them that their value is not defined by grades, popularity, or cultural approval, but by being created in God’s image.

Pray with them. Share your own beliefs. Tell the story of how your faith was tested and strengthened. And if they come home asking questions, doubting, or struggling with big ideas, don’t close the door. Open wider. Listen patiently. Respond with grace. Then guide them to the truth that never changes.

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Today’s students are not as hostile to faith as headlines suggest. Many are quietly searching for something solid in an increasingly unstable culture. They want openness, connection and courage. Families and churches can meet this need if we are willing to speak up and stand close.

At Southeastern University, we work every day to equip students not only with knowledge but also with wisdom. We want them to think critically without getting caught up in ideology. We want them to be in touch with culture without losing their soul. And we know that none of this can happen without families, churches, and mentors committed to shaping the whole person.

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Thanksgiving is more than a holiday. This is a spiritual reset. It roots us in gratitude. It reunites us with our story. And for students who are drifting in all directions, this can be a lifeline that will bring them back to the person they were always meant to be.

This generation does not need to be rescued from college. He needs to be re-rooted in truth. So this Thanksgiving, let’s do more than gather around the table. Let’s remind our students who they are, who they are, and why that still matters.

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