Peter J. Hatala wrote:
Wow....yeah, that place was nutty. One of my favorite Purchase experiences was starting my American Politics class. The first day the professor introduced himself by saying: "I'm a Marxist, so this class will basically be taught from a Marxist perspective. If you don't like that, you should probably find another class to take." That was interesting.
Yea, nutty is indeed the word Josh.
I would like to add one thing that may be a significant point. The three and a half years at Purchase were the most important years of my life. It is there that my faith in Christ and His Orthodox Church really solidified and also the place where I met the woman who is now my wife. I think there were things challenging my faith at every corner there. I was really miserable a lot of the time there. I felt a really evil hatred for and attack on Christianity and great blasphemy at almost every corner. However, I feel that I had to deal with real issues that I wouldn't have had to so directly deal with if I wasn't in such a place so hostile towards Christ's Truth. I feel almost like that was a real spiritual battleground for me, in which , through the grace of Christ, my faith became strengthened and I came out victorious. Now that it is over, I have never and most likely will never face such intense internal struggle for my faith; I feel kind of like, if that could not tear my faith down, nothing could. I wonder if you had something similar occur at all.
I would just like to make this point. I would never recommend any Christian person to attend a place so hostile towards their faith, but perhaps that kind of atmosphere can be a blessing in disguise in the long run. After all me, you (Peter), my wife, Matt (the ex-giant Skinhead) and your friend Jessica, who all went there, are all Orthodox now. Curious indeed. 
Indeed looking forward to a time where we can meet in person.
In Christ,
Nicholas (Savva)
j/k