This is a partial list of some major holy days of those traditions listed below. Holy days noted in bold are widely considered to be major holy days within the religious tradition, and are most likely to be times when an adherent would engage in religious observations. Therefore, a religious accommodation such as absence from class and/or rescheduling of an exam may be requested. Accommodations must be requested in a timely manner. Religious holy days from traditions not listed here may also require accommodation. On dates marked with an asterisk (*), observances begin at sundown of the preceding day. Jewish holy days end one hour after sunset of the concluding day. Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist holy days may vary depending on the sighting of the moon.

Some Major Religious Holy Days

Month	Date	Holy Day	Religion
August	*11	Eid al-Adha	Islam
	24	Sri Krishna Jayanti	Hinduism
	27 -Sep 3	Paryushana	Jainism
	31	Al-Hijra (New Year)	Islam
September	*9	Ashura	Islam
	*29 - Oct 8	Navratri	Hinduism
	*30 - Oct 1	Rosh Hashana	Judaism
October	*9	Yom Kippur	Judaism
	*14-15	First and Second Days of Sukkot	Judaism
	20	Installation Sri Guru Granth Shib Ji	Sikhism
	*21	Shmini Atzeret	Judaism
	*22	Simchat Torah	Judaism
	24-29	Diwali	Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism
	27	Bandi Chhor Divas	Sikhism
	29	Birth of the Bab	Bahá’í
	30	Birth of Bahá’u’lláh	Bahá’í
November	1	Feast of All Saints	Christianity
	2	Feast of All Souls	Christianity
	9	Mawlid al-Nabi	Islam
	12	Birthdate of Gur Nanak Dev Ji	Sikhism
	24	Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji	Sikhism
	25	Day of the Covenant	Bahá’í
	28	Ascension of Abdu'l-Baha	Bahá’í
December	8	Feast of the Immaculate Conception	Christianity
	25	Christmas	Christianity
	*23-30	Chanukah	Judaism
	26	Death of Prophet Zarathustra	Zoroastrianism
January	5	Birthday of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib	Sikhism
	6	Epiphany	Christianity
	6	Armenian Christmas	Eastern Christianity
	7	Christmas	Eastern Christianity
	10	Mahayana New Year	Buddhism
	14	Maghi/Lohri	Sikhism
	15	Makar Sankranti/Pongal	Hinduism
	25	Chinese New Year	Buddhism
February	*10	Tu B'Shvat	Judaism
	15	Nirvana Day	Buddhism, Jainism
	21	Maha Shivaratri	Hinduism
	26	Ash Wednesday	Christianity
March	9-10	Holi	Hinduism
	*10	Purim	Judaism
	10-12	Holla Moholla	Sikhism
	20	Nawruz	Bahá’í, Zoroastrianism
April	5	Palm Sunday	Christianity
	6	Mahavir Jayanti	Jainism
	7-9	Thereavada New Year	Buddhism
	9	Holy Thursday	Christianity
	*9-10	First Two Days of Passover	Judaism
	10	Good Friday	Christianity
	12	Easter	Christiantiy
	12	Palm Sunday	Eastern Christianity
	13	Vaisakhi	Sikhism
	*15-16	Last Two Days of Passover	Judaism
	17	Holy Friday	Eastern Christianity
	19	Pascha (Easter)	Eastern Christianity
	20	First Day of Ridvan	Bahá’í
	*24	Ramadan Begins	Islam
	26-29	Ayyám-i-Há	Bahá’í
	27	Ninth Day of Ridvan	Bahá’í
May	1	Twelfth Day of Ridvan	Bahá’í
	7	Visakha Puja	Buddhist
	23	Declaration of the Bab	Bahá’í
	*24	Eid al-Fitr	Islam
	28	Ascension of Baha'u'llah	Bahá’í
	*29-30	Shavout	Judaism
	31	Pentecost	Christianity
July	4	Asalha Puja	Buddhism
	9	Martydom of the Bab	Bahá’í
	13-15	Obon (Ulambana)	Buddhism

Please note:

• Observance of Buddhist, Hindu/Vedic and Islamic holy days is dependent on the sighting of the moon. Please note that the dates provided may not be the exact dates but the closest approximates. 
• Observance of Baha'i holy days begins at sundown of preceding day and ends at sunset of the holy days. 
• Roman Catholic obligatory feasts require attendance at services and avoidance of servile work. 
• Roman Catholic traditional feasts are those days on which it is assumed that the faithful will attend services. This may exclude servile work and include various requirements of prayer and fasting.

The above are guidelines for your rights and responsibilities regarding religious observances. The university administration, in reaffirming American University's historic commitment to diversity, makes it clear that religious observance is to be honored. The following paragraph is included in a letter recently sent by the provost to all faculty:

According to university policy, students may receive excused absences from class or exam attendance for observance of religious holidays. Students should not be penalized for excused absences and are required to make-up all work missed as a result of these absences. Students must also inform their professors of their religious obligations in a timely manner. On holy days, please try to avoid scheduling exams or other important events. If you must schedule important class events on these days, please provide proper notification in your syllabi and give students reasonable opportunities to make-up missed work. Students have been instructed to notify faculty in advance if they intend to miss class for a religious commitment.

It is the responsibility of the student to manage the work or study time lost as the result of religious holidays or observances that do not fall within class time or scheduled examination periods.

If you need to make a request for a religious accommodation, you can do so through our online form.

If you have any questions about the policy or about religious observance, please contact any of the chaplains listed below:

Mr. Jason Benkendorf, Hillel Executive Director
202-885-3322 - jasonb@american.edu

Ms. Donna Denize, Baha'i Chaplain
202-537-6478 - donna.denize@cathedral.org

Rev. Joey Heath-Mason, United Methodist Chaplain
202-885-3304 - joeyh@american.edu

Imam Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, Muslim Chaplain
301-946-9437 - ahmad@minaret.org

Fr. Ivan Pertine, Catholic Chaplain
202-885-32940 - priest@american.edu

Kavita Pallod Sekhsaria, Hindu/Vedic Chaplain
202-885-3320 - kpsekhsaria@gmail.com

Bhante Uparatana, Buddhist Chaplain
301-946-9437 - kuparatana@gmail.com

Rev. Blane Young, Chi Alpha Chaplain
202-885-3476 blane@american.edu