2023 Secular & Religious Holidays
What follows is a partial list of secular & religious holidays during 2023. In some traditions individuals may observe holiday dates that may vary slightly from those listed. You can also find the full text of the University Policy on Secular & Religious Holidays below.
Bold – no examinations may be given and no assigned work may be required on these days
* – indicates holiday begins at sunset on the first date given
** – date of observance varies by country, UN observance date listed
Muslim dates are based on lunar sightings and may vary from those listed
Spring 2023
Sunday 1/1 – New Year’s Day (Secular)
Saturday 1/7 – Christmas (Orthodox Christian)
Monday 1/16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Secular)
Sunday 1/22 – Lunar New Year (Secular)
Thursday 1/26 – Vasant Panchami/Saraswati Puja (Hindu)
Saturday 2/18 – Maha Shivaratri (Hindu)
Wednesday 2/22 – Ash Wednesday (Christian)
*Monday 3/6 (sunset) to Tuesday 3/7 – Purim (Jewish)
Wednesday 3/8 – Holi (Hindu)
*Monday 3/20 (sunset) to Tuesday 3/21 – Naw-Rúz (Baha’i)
*Wednesday 3/22 (sunset) to Thursday 4/20 (30 days) – Ramadan (Muslim)
Thursday 3/30 – Rama Navami (Hindu)
Tuesday 4/4 – Mahavir Jayanti (Jain)
*Wednesday 4/5 (sunset) to Thursday 4/13 (9 days) – Passover (Jewish)
No exams or assigned work may be required from the evening of 4/5 through 4/7
Friday 4/7 – Good Friday (Christian)
Sunday 4/9 – Easter Sunday (Christian)
Friday 4/14 – Good Friday (Orthodox Christian)
Sunday 4/16 – Easter Sunday (Orthodox Christian)
*Monday 4/17 (sunset) to Tuesday 4/18 – Yom HaShoah (Jewish)
*Thursday 4/20 (sunset) to Friday 4/21 – Eid al-Fitr (Muslim)
*Thursday 4/20 (sunset) to Tuesday 5/2 – Ridván (Baha’i)
**Sunday 5/16 – Vesak (Buddhist)
Summer 2023
*Thursday 5/25 (sunset) to Saturday 5/27 – Shavuot (Jewish)
Monday 5/29 – Memorial Day (Secular)
Monday 6/19 – Juneteenth (Secular)
*Tuesday 6/27 (sunset) to Wednesday 6/28 – Eid al-Adha (Muslim)
Tuesday 7/4 – Independence Day (Secular)
*Tuesday 7/18 (sunset) to Wednesday 7/19 – Islamic New Year (Muslim)
*Wednesday 7/26 (sunset) to Thursday 7/27 – Ashura (Muslim)
Fall 2023
Monday 9/4 – Labor Day (Secular)
Monday 9/11 to Monday 9/18 (8 days) – Paryushan (Jain)
*Friday 9/15 (sunset) to Sunday 9/17 – Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)
Tuesday 9/19 – Sri Ganesh Chaturthi (Hindu)
Tuesday 9/19 to Thursday 9/28 (10 days) – Das Lakshan (Jain)
*Sunday 9/24 (sunset) to Monday 9/25 – Yom Kippur (Jewish)
*Tuesday 9/26 (sunset) to Wednesday 9/27 – Mawlid an-Nabi (Sunni Muslim)
*Friday 9/29 (sunset) to Friday 10/6 – Sukkot (Jewish)
*Monday 10/2 (sunset) to Tuesday 10/3 – Mawlid an-Nabi (Shia Muslim)
Monday 10/9 – Indigenous People’s Day (Secular)
*Friday 10/6 (sunset) to Saturday 10/7 – Shemini Atzeret (Jewish)
*Saturday 10/7 (sunset) to Sunday 10/8 – Simchat Torah (Jewish)
Sunday 10/15 to Monday 10/23 (9 days) – Navaratri (Hindu)
*Sunday 10/15 (sunset) to Monday 10/16 – Birth of the Báb (Baha’i)
*Monday 10/16 (sunset) to Tuesday 10/17 – Birth of Bahá’u’lláh (Baha’i)
Tuesday 11/7 – Election Day (Secular)
Sunday 11/12 – Diwali (Hindu/Jain)
Saturday 11/18 – Gyana Panchami (Jain)
Thursday 11/23 to Friday 11/24 – Thanksgiving (Secular)
*Saturday 11/25 to Sunday 11/26 – The Day of the Covenant (Baha’i)
*Monday 11/27 to Tuesday 11/28 – The Ascension of Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i)
*Thursday 12/7 (sunset) to Friday 12/15 (9 days) – Hanukkah (Jewish)
Monday 12/25 – Christmas (Christian)
University Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays:
1. The University recognizes/observes the following secular holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4, Thanksgiving and the day after, Labor Day, and New Year’s Day.
2. The University also recognizes that there are several secular and religious holidays that affect large numbers of University community members, including Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Election Day in November, the first two days of Passover, and Good Friday. In consideration of their significance for many students, no examinations may be given and no assigned work may be required on these days. Students who observe these holidays will be given an opportunity to make up missed work in both laboratories and lecture courses. If an examination is given on the first class day after one of these holidays, it must not cover material introduced in class on that holiday.
Faculty should realize that Jewish holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the published date of the holiday. Late afternoon exams should be avoided on these days. Also, no examinations may be held on Saturdays or Sundays in the undergraduate schools unless they are also available on other days. Nor should seminars or other regular classes be scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays unless they are also available at other times.
Additionally, no examinations may be given or assignments due on the days of Fall Break, Thanksgiving Break, Winter Break, or Spring Break for programs that follow the main University Academic Calendar, with the exception of clinicals, global experiences, and approved academic experiences.
3. The University recognizes that there are other holidays, both religious and secular, which are of importance to some individuals and groups on campus. Such occasions include, but are not limited to, Sukkot, the last two days of Passover, Shavuot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, Lunar New Year, the Muslim New Year, Diwali, Navaratri, Rama Navami, Paryushan, and the Islamic holidays Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha. Students who wish to observe such holidays must inform their instructors within the first two weeks of each semester of their intent to observe the holiday even when the exact date of the holiday will not be known until later so that alternative arrangements convenient to both students and faculty can be made at the earliest opportunity. Students who make such arrangements will not be required to attend classes or take examinations on the designated days, and faculty must provide reasonable opportunities for such students to make up missed work and examinations. For this reason it is desirable that faculty inform students of all examination dates at the start of each semester. Exceptions to the requirement of a make-up examination must be approved in advance by the undergraduate dean of the school in which the course is offered.
Updated May 23, 2023