Religious Holidays & Observance Days

Spiritual Life

Southwestern University for Religious Holidays, Observance Days, and Related Absences

Southwestern University is a community of members from diverse faith-traditions and members from no faith-traditions. We encourage students, faculty, and staff to be aware and respectful of the diverse religious observances of University community members. Required accommodations exist for: Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Pesach (Passover), Good Friday, and Easter (see below for Southwestern’s Religious Observance Excused Absence Policy). Suggested accommodations may range: adjusted due dates, proctoring exams (if during fasting) at times best for student fasting, offering halal/kosher/vegetarian options when food is offered.

Major Holy Days 2025-2026

The days listed below are the ones most likely to affect the academic calendar. NOTE: Dates in bold indicate holy days where work is prohibited or fasting is involved. An asterisk (*) indicates the holy day begins at sundown the day before this date and ends at sundown on this date.

2025
DATE	HOLY DAY NAME	TRADITION	BRIEF DESCRIPTION
July 6*	Ashura	Islam	For Shias, a commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at Karbala. Only in the evenings.
Aug. 15	Krishna Janmashtami	Hinduism	The birthday of Sri Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who helped restore the balance of good over evil.
Aug. 26	Ganesh Chaturthi	Hinduism	Birthday of Sri Ganesha, revered as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune and the remover of obstacles. Start of celebration is from 11:01am and ends at 1:30pm (Time in India)
Aug. 21–28	Paryushan Parva	Jainism	Eight-day Festival of Forgiveness and Self-Discipline.
Sept. 22–Oct 1	Navaratri & Vijayadashami/Dusshera	Hinduism	Festival of 9 nights celebrating the Goddess. 10th day is a festival celebrating the Goddess’ triumph over evil.
Sept. 23–24	Rosh Hashanah	Judaism	Beginning of the Jewish Year and High Holy Days. Work is generally prohibited. Start of celebration is in the evening on the 23rd and ends in the evening on the 24th.
Oct. 2	Yom Kippur	Judaism	The Day of Atonement. Most solemn Jewish holy day. Adults fast from food and drink. Work is generally prohibited. Start of celebration is in the evening on the 1st and ends in the evening on the 2nd.
Oct. 7–13	Sukkot	Judaism	The Feast of the Tabernacles. Harvest Festival. Work is generally prohibited on the first two days. Celebrated in the evenings.
Oct. 14	Shemini Atzeret	Judaism	Marks the end of Sukkot. Work is generally prohibited. Celebrated in the evenings.
Oct. 15	Simchat Torah	Judaism	Work is generally prohibited. Marks end and beginning of public Torah readings. Celebrated in the evening.
Oct. 20	Diwali	Hinduism, Jains, Sikhs	Festival of Lights. Light symbolizes a force against darkness, ignorance, and evil. Diwali is celebrated over 5 days.
Oct. 22*	Birth of the Bab	Bahá’í	Day honoring the birth of one of the founders of the Bahá’í Faith.
Oct. 23	Birth of Baha’u’llah	Baha’i	Work is suspended
Nov. 1*	Samhain	Pagan	Festival of Darkness honoring the dead. Celebrated in the evenings.
Nov. 1	All Saint’s Day	Christianity	Honors all the saints known and unknown.
Nov. 30	Beginning of the Season of Advent	Christianity	First Sunday of Advent
Nov. 30	Srimad Bhagavad Gita Jayanti	Hinduism	Gita Jayanti is the date that Lord Krishna revealed the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu sacred text, to Prince Arjuna.
Dec. 8	Immaculate Conception	Roman Catholics	The day where the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
Dec. 12	Our Lady of Guadalupe	Roman Catholics	According to Catholic tradition, Mary, mother of Jesus, appeared to Juan Diego, who was an Aztec convert to Christianity, on December 9 and again on December 12, 1531. Juan Diego was a young indigenous Indian who was walking toward the Hill of Tepeyac when he was stopped by an appearance of the Virgin Mary.
Dec. 15–22	Hanukkah	Judaism	Festival of Lights. Marks the victory of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Dec. 25	Christmas	Christianity	Celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ.
Dec. 26–Jan. 1	Kwanzaa	African American	Kwanzaa celebrates 7 principles of African heritage. Each of the 7 days are dedicated to a principle.
2026
DATE	HOLY DAY NAME	TRADITION	BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Jan. 7	Feast of the Nativity	Orthodox Christianity	Celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ.
Jan. 14	Makar Sankranti	Hinduism	A celebration marking the advent of the Sun’s northern migration and forthcoming Spring.
Jan.16*	Lailat al Miraj	Islam	Commemoration of Prophet Muhammad’s ascension to Heaven. Celebrated in the evenings.
Feb. 6	Chinese New Year	Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist	A festival marking the new year for the Chinese calendar.
Feb. 15	Maha Shivaratri	Hinduism	An evening celebration of the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.
Feb. 19–March 20	Ramadan	Islam	Holy month of fasting without food or drink from sunrise to sunset.
Feb. 25–March 1	Ayyam-i-Ha	Baha’i
Feb. 25	Ash Wednesday	Christianity	The beginning of Lent, a 40-day fast and time of reflection.
March 2–20	Nineteen Day Fast	Bahá’í	Bahá’ís between the ages of 15 - 70 fast without food or drink from sunrise to sunset.
March 3*	Purim	Judaism	Celebration of the story of Esther. Celebrated in the evenings.
March 4*	Holi	Hinduism	Festival of colors. A two-day festival celebrates the advent of spring and the message that good is victorious over evil.
March 20	Eid al Fitr	Islam	Holy day is celebrated to end Ramadan. Celebrated in the evenings.
March 20–21	Naw-Ruz	Bahá’í	Celebration of the Persian New Year. Starts at 4:15 on the 20th and ends at 4:15 on the 21st.
March 26	Rama Navami	Hinduism	Celebration of the birth of Sri Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu who helped restore balance of good over evil.
March 29	Palm Sunday	Christian	Beginning of Holy Week, prior to Easter.
April 2	Hanuman Jayanti	Hinduism	Celebrates the birthday of Hanuman, foremost devotee of Sri Rama and Sita.
April 2–9	Passover	Judaism	Festival of liberation of Israelites from Slavery in Egypt. Work is prohibited on the first two and last two days. Celebrated in the evenings.
April 2	Maundy Thursday	Christianity	Commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus with the Disciples.
April 3	Good Friday	Christianity	Commemoration of the Crucifixion of Jesus.
April 5	Easter	Christianity	Celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus.
April 12	Pascha	Orthodox Christianity	Celebration of Resurrection of Jesus.
April 13	Vaisakhi	Sikh	Marks the formation of the Khalsa (religious community of Sikhs) by Guru Gobind Singh.
April 21–May 2	Ridvan	Bahá’í	Commemoration of the 12 days when the founder, Baha’u’llah, declared a mission.

**Religious holiday dates may vary in observance since they are calculated on a lunar calendar, and because they are celebrated on various days around the world.

Southwestern’s Religious Observance Excused Absence Policy

Policy Reminders: One-time University events should not be scheduled during the following holidays; these are events which either (1) require attendance, (2) may not be mandatory, but those not attending would miss an important opportunity to be included in a campus event, and/or (3) are one-time opportunities for participants to receive the services offered: Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Christmas Day, Pesach (Passover), Good Friday, and Easter.

Chapel Services and Special Spiritual Life Events: In addition to the above religious holidays, the following dates and times have been identified for Chapel services and other special Spiritual Life events during the 2025-2026 academic year. These are priority events which no student, faculty, or staff member may be denied the opportunity to attend because of a conflicting class, meeting, or event.

Interfaith Prayer Service for UNITY and PEACE, Sunday, August 17, 2025, 5:00 pm
Spiritual Life Interfaith Fair, Sunday, August 24, 2025, 10:30 am - 11:30 am
Homecoming Worship Service, Sunday, October 26, 2025, 10:30 am
Willson Lecture, TBD
Candlelight Worship Services, Thursday, December 4, 2025, 6:00 pm & 8:00 pm
Ash Wednesday, Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 12 noon and 7:00 pm
Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026, 5:00 pm
Baccalaureate Worship Service, Friday, May 8, 2026, 6:30 pm

Religious Absences: Because the religious holidays listed above reflect some, but not all, of the most commonly observed holidays, the University policies also permit any student to miss class in order to observe any religious or cultural holidays that are part of their tradition, including holidays that are not listed above. Students are expected to notify their professor of religious absences as far in advance as possible and fulfill missed assignments prior to the absence. Additionally, University policies permit faculty and staff, including student employees, to miss work in order to observe religious and cultural holidays that are part of their tradition, including holidays that are not listed above. This time off may be without pay or taken as accrued vacation time, and in the case of student employees, it can include a change in work hours within a pay period to accommodate the absence. The University policy notes that faculty members are still expected to meet their class schedules and should work with their Department chair or the Dean of the Faculty to arrange these absences.

These policies can also be found in the Student and Faculty Handbooks.