Supporting Students

7 ways colleges can support students during Ramadan

1. Allow students to take time for prayer, worship, and gathering during Ramadan without academic consequences or penalties. Students may need to miss class or other commitments to honor and celebrate throughout the holy month.

2. Ensure that faculty and staff learn about Ramadan. It is not solely up to religious colleges to teach and learn about religious practices. Understanding the principles of Ramadan can help colleges create safe spaces for students. Muslim students can better advocate for their needs when faculty understand Ramadan.

3. Ask Muslim students what efforts feel most supportive. Students on each college campus may have unique needs that will support them during Ramadan. Allow them to take part in crafting support plans.

4. Acknowledge Ramadan on campus. Create learning opportunities for other students, post informational signs, and appropriately decorate spaces to honor the holy month.

5. Open campus cafeterias before dawn so that students honoring Ramadan can eat their early morning suhoor using their regular meal plans.

6. Provide late-night food options for students breaking their fast after dusk. Ensure that food options adhere to Islamic dietary restrictions.

7. Help Muslim students connect with volunteer opportunities during Ramadan. For those who cannot fast due to medical or personal reasons, volunteering can serve as a substitute and supports the principle of selflessness

History Behind Passover

Rules for Passover

Typical Observances

• Jewish families clean out their physical presence of “chametz,” leavened bread and anything from the major grains that has not been completely cooked within 18 minutes after coming into contact with water. This removal of chametz commemorates the fact that the Jews left Egypt in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise.
• The Pesach observance extends for eight days. On the first two nights of Pesach, a Seder meal is held with family. A liturgy found in the Haggadah is recited, and it is an obligation to recount this story on the first night of Passover. Foods are consumed to symbolize the story of the exodus.

Additional Tips

• Ask community members in observance how they celebrate and how they can be supported and encouraged.
• Be sensitive to eating situations during Pesach and consider providing a Kosher for Pesach meal or option for those observing.
• While students are not automatically excused from class for this observance, they may work with their course instructors to make accommodations. 

Source: Vanderbilt University

Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament of the Bible, the event is said to have occurred three days after Jesus was crucified by the Romans and died in roughly 30 A.D. The holiday concludes the “Passion of Christ,” a series of events and holidays that begins with Lent—a 40-day period of fasting, prayer and sacrifice—and ends with Holy Week, which includes Holy Thursday (the celebration of Jesus’ Last Supper with his 12 Apostles, also known as “Maundy Thursday”), Good Friday (on which Jesus’ crucifixion is observed) and Easter Sunday. The college observes the Easter holiday.

Source: History.com

Typical Observances

• The Friday before Easter Sunday is traditionally a day of fasting and penance because it is the day Christians believe Jesus Christ was crucified. 
• Some churches hold vigils the night before to greet the new day at sunrise and reflect on the meaning of resurrection. 
• With Lent officially over, families and friends gather in their homes and churches for an Easter meal.

Source: U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom