Religious Holidays and Suggested Accommodations

The Department of Religious Studies maintains a calendar of religious holidays and suggested accommodations, which is more inclusive than that provided by the university more broadly. You may find that some of the traditions mentioned here are unfamiliar to you. We welcome you to learn more about these traditions.

UNC Charlotte encourages students, faculty, and staff to be aware and respectful of the religious observances of our community members. Some religious days of observance affect the ability of UNC Charlotte community members to participate in work, classes, and activities because of specific work or food restrictions associated with those days.

Students seeking accommodations for class attendance or academic assignments due to religious observance are no longer expected to submit the Request for Religious Accommodation Form (see policy revision here), but they should contact instructors in advance with such requests.

Notes: Many of these holidays change each year. Regional and cultural variations are quite common and there is often a variance of dates in any given year. Please be mindful of dietary and technological restrictions when planning events, particularly around certain holidays. For instance, some religious communities limit or avoid their use of technology during holy days, which includes but is not limited to the use of virtual learning platforms. And dietary restrictions might include avoidance of pork, shellfish, and mixing dairy with meat. Not all holy days in every religious and spiritual tradition are included in this calendar and there may be some variances in dates due to regional differences.

Finally, most religions contain multiple sects, and even within a single sect – multiple practices around a holiday can be found. Thus, this is by no means a complete list of all holidays in all world religions. Suggestions for additions can be addressed to j.maguire@charlotte.edu.

We hope this calendar helps university employees plan courses and meetings that consider major religious holidays. Please refer to the policy on Religious Accommodation for Students if you have questions about student absence from class for religious reasons.

If you would like to have the option to toggle religious accommodations on your calendar for planning purposes, please install the calendar as described below:

How Use this Calendar

• Log in to your Google account.
• Click the plus (+) icon at the bottom right corner of the calendar. You will be able to toggle the calendar on and off and set a color that works for you.
• Check each semester or year for religious accommodations and avoid scheduling important academic work and meetings on religious holidays whenever possible. Holidays with restrictions are marked on the calendar with an asterisk preceding the name.
• If you would like more information on a particular religious holiday, click or tap the calendar event to see more information.
• Please see below the calendar for more information.