Editorial : Reinstating classes on holidays benefits many, but may hinder religious observance

The Syracuse University administration, in collaboration with Hendricks Chapel, reinstated all classes on three religious holidays for the 2011-12 academic year and lengthened the Thanksgiving break to a full week.

The change presents significant benefits, but it also complicates religious observance on Eid al-Fitr, Yom Kippur and Good Friday. 

Students certainly celebrate these three holidays. A large number of students go home for Yom Kippur each fall. To make this calendar change fair, the university must hold professors to SU’s academic policy, which states students can miss classes for religious observance given they inform the professor in the first two weeks of the semester. Professors and departments must give students the ability to make up tests and homework from those holidays without penalty.

A weeklong Thanksgiving break will benefit any student who lives outside the Northeast and who must buy expensive plane tickets to get home for what was a relatively short break. On that same note, there are a number of students who must stay at school regardless of the length of Thanksgiving or Spring Break.

Perhaps the university should consider keeping a dining hall open or find another way to provide for the students who must stay here alone. In time, this will become more important as admissions tries to increase the number of students from outside the Northeast and the United States.

The change will also save professors and students from wasting time in minimally attended classes because many students — even those who live in-state — skip Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.The reorganization of time off exchanges three religious holidays for two additional days off in the fall. This is the second time in two years the university has taken away a day off — administrators took away MayFest in fall 2009.

Most students don’t just squander days off. The time is usually spent with a mixture of relaxing and catching up on work. Even still, relaxing does not constitute a waste of time, as many of us have heavy workloads in addition to extracurricular activities. A day off in the middle of a semester can academically or mentally benefit students in ways an additional day of Winter or Summer Break won’t. In light of this reduction, SU should consider adding a nonreligious day off, such as Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day or President’s Day, all three of which many other universities take off.