Religious Observances Listings and Calendars

Religious Observances Listings/Calendars

It is difficult to list all religious observances and holidays. To assist the Georgia State community, the Office of Student Engagement/Dean of Students (Cultures, Communities and Inclusion) has put together a Cultural Awareness Guide available on the DEI site at the link below. We have also provided the following links from other institutions, which have helpful and extensive listings.

• Georgia State University Student Engagement: Cultural Awareness Guide (PDF in New Window)
• Drexel University: https://drexel.edu/provost/calendars/religious-observances/
• American University: https://www.american.edu/ocl/kay/major-religious-holy-days.cfm
• Council of Presidents (public colleges and universities in Washington State):  https://councilofpresidents.org/about/holiday-observance-calendar/

For your convenience, we have built a table of dates for some of the widely observed religious holidays from Academic Year 2021-22 through AY 2028-29. Holidays with an asterisk start at sundown.

Major Religious Observances/Holidays

Academic Year 2021-22 Through AY 2028-29

*Holidays with an asterisk start at sundown.

For questions, comments or other concerns about this table of dates, please contact Jeremy Craig, Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost, at jcraig@gsu.edu.

Jewish and Muslim Holidays with Work Restrictions

Note: These guides help explain important holidays in these two major faiths - which are observed by many Georgia State students, faculty and staff - that have restrictions on work that may necessitate accommodations. 

• Guide to Jewish Holidays, Academic Year 2022-23 through AY 2028-29
• Guide to Muslim Holidays, Academic Year 2022-23 through AY 2028-29

We've also retained our previous guides:

• Guide to Jewish Holidays, Academic Year 2021-22
• Guide to Muslim Holidays, Academic Year 2021-22

Policy on Student Absences & Accommodations Due to Religious Holidays

The following applies regardless of course modality.

Students must provide instructors with reasonable notice of the dates of religious holidays on which they plan to be absent and must be given an equivalent opportunity to make up missed work according to an agreed-upon schedule. Such accommodations might include rescheduling an exam or giving the student a make-up exam, allowing an individual or group presentation to be made on a different date, letting a student attend a different section for the same class that week, adjusting a due date or assigning the student appropriate make-up work that is no more difficult than the original assignment.

Absence for a religious reason should be counted as an excused absence and should not be counted against any other excused absences permitted by the instructor. Should a complicated situation arise related to religious accommodations (for example, clinical rotations), contact your department chair, dean’s office or the Office of Legal Affairs at 404-413-0500.

Policy on Employee Accommodations Due to Religious Holidays

For further information, click here to visit the related listing in the DEI Resource Library, which contains Human Resources policies and forms.