Up for discussion: Navigating religious holidays

The UC Davis community is large. Its people are diverse. And its calendar is crowded with classes, exams and special events. So how does the campus mitigate conflict with holy days of different religions and accommodate those who observe them?

Dates for freshmen to move into the residence halls in the fall, Picnic Day in April and exams have all collided with major religious holidays for Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Picnic Day, scheduled at least two years in advance, normally falls on the third Saturday in April. In 2008, sundown of the date of the annual open house coincided with the start of Passover, a weeklong Jewish commemoration of the deliverance of the ancient Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.

By the time organizers realized that Picnic Day would conflict with Passover, it was too late to change the date because vendors had been booked and campus space had been reserved far in advance. The campus administration and Picnic Day organizers worked closely with the Jewish Hillel House to make people aware of local services for Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, to be held the following day.

The academic calendar also presents a challenge. This year, winter finals continued into Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate the death of Jesus Christ on a cross to atone for the sins of the world. Also in conflict with midterms and exams some years is Ramadan, the Muslim month of daylight fasting also given to family time, inner reflection and spiritual growth.

Consulting the lunar calendar

“Each weekend in the spring is packed back-to-back with cultural weeks, Whole Earth Festival and Picnic Day — there isn’t a lot of room on the calendar to move around,” said Griselda Castro, associate vice chancellor of Student Affairs. “We do everything we can to make accommodations should a scheduling conflict arise.”

Since many Jewish and Muslim holidays follow the lunar calendar, their dates change annually. Going forward, Castro said, the administration hopes to work more closely with the spring events management group to plan ahead and problem-solve around potential conflicts.

“With so many religious holidays and holy days, it’s tough to accommodate all of them and avoid conflict completely, but flexibility is key,” said Vickie Gomez, diversity coordinator for the Office of Campus Community Relations.

Extending move-in dates

Indeed, flexibility is the approach used by Student Housing. In September 2006, the dates for more than 4,800 students to move into residence halls coincided with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. In 2007, the move-in dates fell during Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. To accommodate observant students, Student Housing extended the move-in dates.

Next year, move-in dates will again fall during Rosh Hashanah, so the housing office is already taking steps to modify move-in dates for observant students.

“Because some holidays move around based on the lunar calendar, it’s difficult to develop a set strategy — we need to be flexible from year to year,” said Emily Galindo, director of Student Housing. “Keeping the lines of communication open really helps to avoid conflict as well, and we encourage students and families to bring significant dates to our attention.”

Diversity Calendar

Student Housing distributes a Diversity Calendar that highlights many holidays and how people, depending on their country of origin, celebrate. The calendar is also sold in the UC Davis Bookstore.

Mikael Villalobos, also a diversity coordinator for Campus Community Relations, said the calendar is a great resource and his office is updating its Web site to include an online version. He also directs a series of brown-bag seminars for faculty including “How to Foster an Inclusive Environment in Classrooms.”

“There’s so much we don’t know about others’ religious or personal beliefs, but through increased awareness with regard to diversity, we’re creating an inclusive campus environment that builds a stronger community,” Villalobos said.

Accommodations for midterms and exams

UC Davis tries to work with students who have a test or exam conflicting with their observance of a religious creed. According to The Class Schedule and Registration Guide, a student must make a written request by the beginning of the quarter for accommodation. If such accommodation will not create an undue hardship for the instructor or other students, an instructor will set another time that the student can write the exam.