Letter to the College Community
Dear Faculty, Staff, Students and Administrators,
The College’s commitment to establishing a diverse community with people “from all backgrounds” includes religious differences. The Student Handbook includes a “Policy on Observance of Religious Holidays” that says the following: "Amherst College respects the rights of all members of the community to observe religious holidays. It is expected that everyone will cooperate in making this right a real one. Students and faculty, in particular, should seek ways of achieving this goal, while at the same time minimizing interruptions of the academic work of the College." Major religious holidays for various traditions during the 2018/2019 academic year are indicated for each month.
Our hope is that having these dates will help you to anticipate when some students may have special needs with regard to examination, presentations, and assignments.
If you have any questions, please contact the appropriate advisor. The entire religious and spiritual life staff can be found at the Religious & Spiritual Life staff web site. For the sake of brevity, the holidays listed are those that we know represent our community.
We wish you the best as the new semester begins.
Click on a holiday for a detailed description.
For a more exhaustive listing and explanation go to The Interfaith Observer.