Religious Holidays

Spiritual & Religious Life

Southwestern University for Religious Holidays, Observance Days, and Related Absences

Southwestern is a community made up of individuals of various faiths and backgrounds. We encourage students, faculty, and staff to be aware and respectful of the diverse religious observances of University community members. Required accommodations exist for: Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Pesach (Passover), Good Friday, Easter (see below for Southwestern’s Religious Observance Excused Absence Policy).Suggested accommodations may range: adjusted due dates, proctoring exams (if during fasting) at times best for student fasting, offering halal/kosher/vegetarian options when food is offered.

Major Holy Days 2022-2023

The days listed below are the ones most likely to affect the academic calendar.

NOTE: Dates in bold indicate holy days where work is prohibited or fasting is involved. An asterisk (*) indicates the holy day begins at sundown the day before this date and ends at sundown on this date. Religious holiday dates may vary in observance since they are calculated on a lunar calendar, and because they are celebrated on various days around the world.

Students seeking to request a religious accommodation may use this email template.

Date	Holy Day Name	Tradition	Brief Description
July 10*	Eid Al-Adha	Islam	Work is generally prohibited. The Festival of Sacrifice remembers Abraham’s devotion.
August 8*	Ashura	Islam	For Shias, a commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at Karbala.
August 18	Krishna Janmashtami	Hindu	The birthday of Sri Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who helped restore the balance of good over evil.
August 23 – August 31	Paryushan Parva	Jain	Eight-day Festival of Forgiveness and Self-Discipline.
August 31	Ganesh Chaturthi	Hindu	Birthday of Sri Ganesha, revered as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and the remover of obstacles.
September 26-27*	Rosh Hashanah	Jewish	Beginning of the Jewish Year and High Holy Days. Work is generally prohibited.
September 26-October 5 & October 5	Navaratri & Vijayadashami/ Dusshera	Hindu	Festival of 9 nights celebrating the Goddess. 10th day is a festival celebrating the Goddess’ triumph over evil.
October 5*	Yom Kippur	Jewish	The Day of Atonement. Most solemn Jewish holy day. Adults fast from food and drink. Work is generally prohibited.
October 10-16*	Sukkot	Jewish	The Feast of the Tabernacles. Harvest Festival. Work is generally prohibited on the first two days.
October 17*	Shemini Atzeret	Jewish	Marks the end of Sukkot. Work is generally prohibited.
October 18*	Simchat Torah	Jewish	Work is generally prohibited. Marks end and beginning of public Torah readings.
October 24	Diwali	Hindu, Jain, Sikh	Festival of Lights. Light symbolizes a force against darkness, ignorance, evil. Diwali is celebrated over 5 days.
October 26*	Birth of the Bab	Bahá’í	Day honoring the birth of one of the founders of the Bahá’í Faith.
November 1*	Samhain	Wiccan/ Pagan	Festival of Darkness honoring the dead.
November 1	All Saint’s Day	Christian	Honors all the saints known and unknown.
December 3	Srimad Bhagavad Gita Jayanti	Hindu	Gita Jayanti is the date that Lord Krishna revealed the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu sacred text, to Prince Arjuna.
December 19 - December 26*	Hanukkah	Jewish	Festival of Lights. Marks the victory of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
December 25	Christmas	Christian	Celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ.
December 26- January 1	Kwanzaa	African American	Kwanzaa celebrates 7 principles of African heritage. Each of the 7 days are dedicated to a principle.
2023
January 7	Feast of the Nativity	Orthodox Christian	Celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ.
January 10	Bodhi Day	Buddhist	Celebration of Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment.
January 14	Makar Sankranti	Hindu	A celebration marking the advent of the Sun’s northern migration and forthcoming Spring.
January 22	Chinese New Year	Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist	A festival marking the new year for the Chinese calendar.
February 18*	Lailat al Miraj	Muslim	Commemoration of Prophet Muhammad’s ascension to Heaven.
February 18	Maha Shivaratri	Hindu	An evening celebration of the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
February 22	Ash Wednesday	Christian	The beginning of Lent, a 40-day fast and time of reflection.
March 2 – 20*	Nineteen Day Fast	Bahá’í	Bahá’ís between the ages of 15 - 70 fast without food or drink from sunrise to sunset.
March 7*	Purim	Jewish	Celebration of the story of Esther.
March 8*	Holi	Hindu	Festival of colors. A two-day festival celebrates the advent of spring and the message that good victorious over evil.
March 22*	Nowruz (New Year)	Zoroastrian and Bahá’í	Celebration of the Persian New Year.
March 23 – April 21*	Ramadan	Islam	Holy month of fasting without food or drink from sunrise to sunset.
March 30	Rama Navami	Hindu	Celebration of the birth of Sri Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who helped restore balance of good over evil.
April 2	Palm Sunday	Christian	Beginning of Holy Week, prior to Easter.
April 6	Hanuman Jayanti	Hindu	Celebrates the birthday of Hanuman, foremost devotee of Sri Rama and Sita.
April 6, April 7, April 9	Holy/Maundy Thursday, Good/Holy Friday, Easter	Christian	Commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus with the Disciples; Commemoration of the Crucifixion of Jesus; Celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.
April 6 - 13*	Pesach (Passover)	Jewish	Festival of liberation of Israelites from Slavery in Egypt. Work is prohibited on the first two and last two days.
April 14	Vaisakhi	Sikh	Marks the formation of the Khalsa (religious community of Sikhs) by Guru Gobind Singh.
April 16	Pascha	Orthodox Christian	Celebration of Resurrection of Jesus.
April 21- May 2	Ridvan	Bahá’í	Commemoration of the 12 days when founder, Baha’u’llah, declared mission.
April 22*	Eid al Fitr	Islam	Holy day celebrated to end Ramadan.

The days listed below are the ones most likely to affect the academic calendar.

Southwestern’s Religious Observance Excused Absence Policy

Policy Reminders: One-time University events should not be scheduled during the following holidays; these are events which either (1) require attendance, (2) may not be mandatory, but those not attending would miss an important opportunity to be included in a campus event, and/or (3) are one-time opportunities for participants to receive the services offered: Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Christmas Day, Pesach (Passover), Good Friday, Easter.

Chapel Services: In addition to the above religious holidays, the following dates and times have been identified for Chapel services during the 2021-2022 academic year. These are priority events which no student, faculty, or staff member may be denied the opportunity to attend because of a conflicting class, meeting, or event.

Homecoming worship service, Sunday, November 6, 2022, 10:30am
Candlelight worship services, Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 6:00pm and 8:00pm

Ash Wednesday, Wednesday, February 22, 2023 (reflection and ashes to go offered 11:30 to 12:30)
Baccalaureate worship service, Friday, May 12, 2023, 7:00pm-8:00pm

Religious Absences: Because the religious holidays listed above reflect some, but not all, of the most commonly observed holidays, the University policies also permit any student to miss class in order to observe any religious or cultural holidays that are part of their tradition, including holidays that are not listed above. Students are expected to notify their professor of religious absences as far in advance as possible and fulfill missed assignments prior to the absence. Additionally, University policies permit faculty and staff, including student employees, to miss work in order to observe religious and cultural holidays that are part of their tradition, including holidays that are not listed above. This time-off may be without pay or taken as accrued vacation time, and in the case of student employees, it can include a change in work hours within a pay period to accommodate the absence. The University policy notes that faculty members are still expected to meet their class schedules and should work with their Department chair or the Dean of the Faculty to arrange these absences.

Please feel free to contact Alisa Gaunder, Dean of the Faculty, (gaundera@southwestern.edu) or spirituallife@southwestern.edu, if you have any questions. These policies can also be found in the Student and Faculty Handbooks.