Spring Break
University schedule still conflicts with religious life
Issue date: 4/17/08
Beer gardens and carnival food - the staples of Spring Fair - will not be enjoyed by students observing Passover, as the two events will overlap this year, leaving Jewish students to balance the festivities with a set of temporary dietary restrictions.
While universities across the country, most recently Harvard, are making strides to accommodate students' religious lifestyles, students at Hopkins continue to have scheduling conflicts with University events and religious holidays.
"We did make a phone call to Hillel to discuss it, and it was decided that there wasn't a lot we could do if we wanted to have a Spring Fair," said Jane Rhyner, a representative of the Department of Student Development and Programming at Hopkins, which scheduled the Spring Fair dates.
Rachel Heimann, acting director of Hopkins Hillel, said that this particular scheduling conflict was unavoidable.
"This happens about every other year - I think it's frustrating for students, but it's accepted," Heimann said.
According to Heimann, Spring Fair is always difficult to schedule due to the sheer number of University events taking place towards the end of the year; and although Hillel works in conjunction with the Office of the Dean of Student Life to determine the best possible weekend for the event, the unfortunate overlap of Spring Fair and Passover is often impossible to avoid.
"Over the course of four years, at least one if not two Spring Fairs will take place over Passover," Heimann said.
This year Passover was particularly difficult to schedule around given that it will be taking place across two weekends, while normally it falls on only one.
According to Rhyner, the date for Homecoming is set first, and given priority, and then the department attempts to find the best possible date for Spring Fair.
Recently Harvard University took a controversial step to accommodate the religious lifestyles of its students by restricting the use of one of its gyms to women only for six hours a week, after a small group of female Muslim undergraduates approached officials with the idea. This decision - in conjunction with a separate controversy related to the Muslim call to prayer being broadcast across the Harvard campus during Islamic Awareness Week - has resulted in a nationwide discussion of the role of religion in the essentially secular academic world.
While universities across the country, most recently Harvard, are making strides to accommodate students' religious lifestyles, students at Hopkins continue to have scheduling conflicts with University events and religious holidays.
"We did make a phone call to Hillel to discuss it, and it was decided that there wasn't a lot we could do if we wanted to have a Spring Fair," said Jane Rhyner, a representative of the Department of Student Development and Programming at Hopkins, which scheduled the Spring Fair dates.
Rachel Heimann, acting director of Hopkins Hillel, said that this particular scheduling conflict was unavoidable.
"This happens about every other year - I think it's frustrating for students, but it's accepted," Heimann said.
According to Heimann, Spring Fair is always difficult to schedule due to the sheer number of University events taking place towards the end of the year; and although Hillel works in conjunction with the Office of the Dean of Student Life to determine the best possible weekend for the event, the unfortunate overlap of Spring Fair and Passover is often impossible to avoid.
"Over the course of four years, at least one if not two Spring Fairs will take place over Passover," Heimann said.
This year Passover was particularly difficult to schedule around given that it will be taking place across two weekends, while normally it falls on only one.
According to Rhyner, the date for Homecoming is set first, and given priority, and then the department attempts to find the best possible date for Spring Fair.
Recently Harvard University took a controversial step to accommodate the religious lifestyles of its students by restricting the use of one of its gyms to women only for six hours a week, after a small group of female Muslim undergraduates approached officials with the idea. This decision - in conjunction with a separate controversy related to the Muslim call to prayer being broadcast across the Harvard campus during Islamic Awareness Week - has resulted in a nationwide discussion of the role of religion in the essentially secular academic world.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Sue Vazakas
posted 4/24/08 @ 12:12 PM EST
Just FYI, Sunday, April 27 is Easter for those who are Eastern Orthodox, so the date is somewhat inconvenient for them as well.
(For more info about why this is, here's the Encyclopedia Britannica entry: http://search. (Continued…)
Efrem Epstein
posted 4/25/08 @ 12:01 AM EST
As an alumnus and an observant Jew, I am very disturbed by the Ms. Heimann's comment:
"Over the course of four years, at least one if not two Spring Fairs will take place over Passover," Heimann said. (Continued…)
Ryan M Harrison
posted 4/27/08 @ 10:58 PM EST
Assumption: Hopkins cannot possibly accommodate every religious faction on campus for large social events. Taking the utilitarian approach, JHU could try to accommodate the largest factions (Jews and mainstream Protestants) and neglect the others (sorry to the Jain, Sikh, Eastern Orthodox, etc. (Continued…)
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