The NYTimes looks at the return of crucifixes to the classrooms of some Catholic colleges

By 1997, a student group at Georgetown was demanding that crucifixes, by then hung only in historic classroom buildings and each room of the Georgetown University Hospital, be placed back in every classroom. By 1999, there they were, though with a modern multicultural twist: the collection of crucifixes was a consciously colorful one, with Jesuses of many races. At the Bunn Intercultural Center on campus, rotating symbols of numerous faiths went on display.

At Catholic University in Washington, crucifixes never came down. But when a new law school building was built at the university’s Columbus Law School in the mid-1990’s, there were public calls critical of the slow pace of cross hanging. Up they went.

“The younger generation is always ready to challenge authority,” Mr. Reilly said. “In the 1960’s, when they challenged authority, it was the church they were challenging. Now, they defend the church against authority.”

At Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., Nancy Habetz, a spokeswoman, said that a limited pro-crucifix movement materialized on campus in the late 1990’s, but fizzled. While Ms. Habetz said that the university created an environment where the message of the cross was conveyed, “whether that means we have to have one crucifix in every classroom is not necessarily the conclusion we draw.”

At Iona, Kim Morey, the president of the student body this year, said reactions to the reappearance of the classroom crucifixes were generally positive, with feelings that tended to range from highly appreciative to neutral disinterest.