RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS:  Policy and Calendar
Below find a memo sent from the University Provost and the University Chaplain to all entering students explaining Lehigh University's "Accommodation Policy" regarding religious holidays.  A calendar of religious holidays follows the policy statement.
 
 

Lehigh University seeks to extend hospitality to all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic or social background.  Diversity is valued at Lehigh, and the University is committed to assuring that all persons who enter this community are welcomed and respected.

People from a wide variety of religious traditions live and work at Lehigh, and over the years the University has developed policies that respect this diversity.  Because Lehigh is non-sectarian and is not affiliated with any particular religious tradition, respect for religious life means that the University does not privilege one religious tradition over another.  The University acknowledges that religious practices differ from tradition to tradition and that the demands of religious observance in some traditions may cause conflicts with student and work schedules.  Like many other colleges and universities, Lehigh has adopted a policy to accommodate those who encounter conflicts between the demands of religious observance and the demands of work or study.  This "accommodation policy" acknowledges the right of those who live and work and study at Lehigh to engage in religious observances, and the University is pledged to honor the exercise of that right.

This accommodation policy is particularly important with respect to religious holidays.  The University publishes major religious holidays in its official calendar to alert faculty so that as they prepare their syllabi, they will not plan exams or other major course events on these dates.  But not all holidays are published, and occasionally students who inform a faculty member that they will be absent from class due to religious observances  will encounter a difficulty, perhaps with a new faculty member or a graduate teaching assistant who has not been fully informed about the religious accommodation policy.  These problems are all resolvable.  The university policy is to support the student who requests an absence due to the demands of religious observance.  Of course, nothing in this policy exempts a student from meeting course requirements or completing assignments, so the student will have to negotiate with the instructor any make-up work.

If you encounter a schedule conflict with your course work due to the demands of religious observance, here is what you should do:

 1.  Talk  with your instructor and indicate that you will be absent from class due to observance of religious holidays.

 2.  Arrange with the instructor to complete assignments.

 3.  If you run into difficulties, including a refusal to grant you an excused absence, please call the University Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd Steffen, at x83877 or e-mail him at lhs1.  The  Chaplain will speak with the faculty person, explain the accommodation policy adopted by the University and enforced by the Provost, and work to resolve any difficulties.

Religious holidays are posted on the Chaplain's web page at http://www.lehigh.edu/~incha/holidays.html

 __________________________________            __________________________________
Mohamed S. El-Aasser                                                Lloyd Steffen
Provost                                                                       University Chaplain

                              Religious Holidays                    

                                                         SPRING 2009            

                                              FALL 2009

*  All Jewish and Bah'a'i holidays begin at sunset the previous day.  ** Hindu, Sikh, and Jain holidays are calculated on a lunar calendar and are observed at different times in different regions.

Islamic Calendar:   The Islamic Calendar

The Hindu Calendar:   The Hindu Calendar

Roman Catholic Holy Days of Obligation:
   January 1:  Mary Mother of God
    May 25:  Ascension Thursday
    August 15:  Assumption
    November 1:  All Saints
    December 8:  Immaculate Conception
    December 25:  Christmas