Every fall at Brandeis, students may wake up on a Wednesday with a Tuesday class schedule, or on a day when there are no classes for reasons unbeknownst to them. These days off may provide opportunities for relaxation and relief, but so much time off in October always leads to a messy midterms schedule, and this semester, it meant finals end on Dec. 22. While a secular university, Brandeis follows the Jewish calendar and gives days off accordingly. A small fraction of the student body requires all of this time off for religious purposes, leaving the rest of the student body to navigate the unclear class schedule. This editorial board believes that the unequal value given to some class times and the lack of organization for midterms could be addressed by a clearer class schedule regarding time off for religious holidays in the fall. 

This semester’s schedule had eight days off in addition to Thanksgiving break. Seven of these days were in October, and three were Tuesdays. A “Brandeis Tuesday” — a school day on a different weekday with a Tuesday class schedule in place  — was needed to prevent the class schedule from losing too much time to days off. This editorial board would propose that Brandeis give greater emphasis to ensuring classes are able to have enough time for their planned syllabi, reasonable midterms and finals schedules so that all students get the amount of time needed for all the classes they registered for. 

The issue is not the schedule of religious holidays that Brandeis has accommodated for; the issue is the greater emphasis on religious holidays rather than the academic calendar. The majority of Brandeis students do not observe the holidays for which class time is given off, but all Brandeis students are affected by the disorganization of the fall class and exam schedule. Brandeis has accommodations available for students who need to miss classes for religious holidays, for which the school does not give time off. Excused absences are given to these students; this way, students who observe holidays are not affected academically for missing class. This editorial board suggests that the policy applies to religious holidays which time is given off for as well, with a coherent system of class recovery time built in. This way, students who need time off from school to observe their holidays can use university-sanctioned excused absences. Professors would still be able to cancel classes for these holidays if they choose to, but the class time is available if needed. The fall schedule would not have to rely on “Brandeis Tuesdays” to ensure that classes have all the time needed to get through their course material. 

Many schools across the country have similar accommodations for their students, including Boston University, whose religious policies are no different than the Massachusetts state law, which allows for excused absences for religious purposes and extended time given to students who miss class for said reason. Another school with a similar arrangement is Tulane University. Tulane has a religious holidays calendar that they update yearly to ensure all students and staff can view major holidays that may be coming up, and could interfere with the semester at hand. Brandeis, Boston University and Tulane University all have policies that outline how students who have religious observances during class time should contact their professors to request an excused absence. 

This editorial board would like to suggest Brandeis extend the policy of religious accommodation to include holidays that time is given off for so that academics are more fairly valued, hopefully allowing for a cohesive fall schedule with a clearly defined midterm season and an earlier start to winter break. With this system in place, professors would have an easier time keeping their courses on schedule, students who do not need the time off would be able to have an easier time keeping up with their classes and students who do need the time off can have excused absences for religious observance without their grades suffering from class-specific attendance policies. 

Brandeis has not given equal priority to the religious and academic needs of its students. Rather than allowing a jumbled academic schedule to penalize all students, adopting a system of university-sanctioned religious excused absences allows academics to be valued fairly on a campus with a prevalent religious culture. This past semester’s fall academic calendar led to an egregiously long, undefined midterm period and a finals schedule that ends much later than students are comfortable with. It allowed for some classes to keep all their allotted time, while others missed multiple meeting times with minimal opportunity to catch up. The days off for religious holidays are not the issue; the disorganization of our class schedule, created seemingly with religious rather than academic intentions, is.