This year, Syracuse University did something a little different than years past: It held classes on the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana and the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr. To allow students to be exempt from classes from religious observances, the university had students request the day off through their MySlice accounts — a policy hundreds of students have utilized this year.

During the first two weeks of school, students logged into their accounts, clicked on a link that read ‘My Religious Observances’ and selected the specific classes from which they wanted to be exempt. Professors were then notified of the students’ requests and were able to work with students to prepare for their absences.

‘About 600 SU students have submitted one or more notifications,’ said Sandra Hurd, associate provost of academic programs, in an email.

The university has yet to determine the number of requests for specific holidays, but plans to do a hand count, Hurd said.

The university plans to analyze the statistics regarding students that submitted a notification on their MySlice at the end of the spring semester and relay the information to professors by making them aware of the most submitted holidays. That way, professors could take religious observances into account when planning course syllabi, Hurd said.

‘Most professors are sensitive to the needs of students who are observing a religious holiday,’ said Azhar Ali, president of the Muslim Students’ Association. ‘And students need to become more aware of it next year for it to be effective.’

Ali said that students tend not to take advantage of their ability to observe certain religious holidays without fear of falling behind in class or experiencing academic consequences.

Tanweer Haq, assistant Islamic chaplain at Hendricks Chapel, said he agrees with Ali.

‘Participation in the MySlice policy was lower than it could have been even though students had a choice of being proactive and asking their professor to give them exceptions,’ he said. ‘But they’re worried that they may have a lot of writing, or that they’ll run into other issues.’

Hendricks teamed with the chaplains and religious organizations on campus to arrange activities for students to take part in when their religious observances fall during the week.

For Rosh Hashana last week, the Winnick Hillel Center held several activities for observing students, including conservative services, reform services, a lunch and a dinner, according to a flier from Hendricks. MSA held a similar dinner at Hendricks earlier this year.

‘When it comes to holidays, the MSA’s objective is to make the days as celebratory and joyous as possible,’ Ali said. ‘Holidays are tough on students who can’t go home and enjoy the holidays with their families like they would typically do in years past, so we try to plan a celebratory dinner.’

During the past year, 76,000 students have walked through the doors of Hendricks for religious events or services, said Tiffany Steinwert, dean of Hendricks. She also said that many students are not focused on one particular religion.

‘Students are starting to look at religion in different ways,’ she said. ‘Twenty-five percent of students are atheist and agnostic and are looking at the big questions, such as what’s right and what’s just. Like many students, they look at religion in ways that are bigger than before.’

Hendricks continuously tries to provide for the religious needs of students with regular activities as well. Many religions have chaplains stationed at Hendricks who are available to answer questions, attend to students’ concerns or provide spiritual advice, said Ginny Yerdon, administrative assistant and events coordinator at Hendricks.

‘We give Chaplains a list of students that have said, ‘My religious preference is such,’ and then the Chaplains are able to contact the students by email and let them know what’s available if they’re ever interested in worship or special events,’ Yerdon said.

Yerdon said that college students are usually willing to explore new religious faiths.

‘Studies find that students are more spiritual then having a particular religious tradition,’ Yerdon said. ‘And so many participate in a lot of different things, they sort of pick and choose what they want.’

meltagou@syr.edu  

Published on October 2, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri