Monday, April 18th marked the first day of the Jewish holiday Passover this year.
With over 10 percent of undergraduates who are Jewish, many students wondered what the University’s policy would be for students missing class because of Passover.
“Students do not get off for Passover or other religious holidays because Hopkins is a secular institution,” professor and Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education Steven David said.
The University does not give students the day off for any religious holidays, including Good Friday and Ramadan.
However, Hopkins professors have been quite understanding of students who are observing this holiday.
“We do try to impress upon faculty to excuse student absences for religious holidays and to refrain from scheduling exams and other critical assignments during those days,” David said.
Vice Dean of Science and Research Greg Ball said that though there is no explicit policy for Passover, he allows his students to miss class.
“The University’s policy is to try to accommodate students as much as possible who need to miss class for religious holidays,” he said.
“I excused a student from my seminar class and let them change when an assignment was due because of Passover. We are a secular University, which does not generally give days off for religious holidays. For example, this coming Friday is not a holiday at Johns Hopkins.”
Freshman Leah Granovsykaya missed class on Tuesday to attend a Passover seder. “I feel like some professors could have been more understanding of missing class for this holiday,” she said.
However, other students did not feel the same way. Freshman Allison Borko felt that her professors were very sympathetic when she missed class.
“I e-mailed my marketing professor about attending a Passover seder,“ she said. “I went to class to take our quiz, then left afterward to attend my seder. Everything worked out very well.”
There are several more upcoming events to celebrate Passover beginning Thursday, April 21st. Java with JON Matzah and Cream Cheese is from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Gilman Hall.
Later from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. there is an opportunity to celebrate Passover at Roland Park Place, where you can visit “some old-timers” and spread the Passover joy to them. Transportation will be provided, and there will be a re-telling of the story of Passover.
Finally, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby of Wolman, an event sponsored by the JSA will give you a chance to make your own matzah pizza and learn about Passover.
Passover ends on Tuesday evening, April 26th.
