Monday at sundown begins Passover — the Jewish holiday commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. To celebrate, many students will partake in seders, give up bread products and take time off from class to fulfill religious obligations.
The next time a major Jewish holiday occurs during the school year, it may be more problematic for students to handle missing class, though. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, starts the night of the first day of classes in September and continues for the next two days — making it harder for students to get an accurate sense of their courses and to finalize their schedules before the end of the add/drop period.
The Council of Undergraduate Deans plan to decide over the summer how handle this situation. We think they should extend the deadlines to add and drop courses for the fall semester.
Roughly 25 to 30 percent of Penn’s student body is Jewish, and many Jewish students will be at services instead of classes on those first few days. Even less observant Jews tend to miss class for the High Holidays because they are some of the holiest days of the year for Jews. A large number of people will be inconvenienced by the fall schedule as it is now, especially if they are taking classes that meet only on Wednesday nights, Thursdays or Fridays.
Penn’s vibrant religious communities attract students to the University. While there a policy about accommodating observances, the policy is not enough in this case. Students should not feel they have to choose between observing religion and deciding whether to take a class.
