Applies to: Students
Policy Holder: Dean of Students
Responsible Office: Dean of Students
Contact Information: Dean of Students
Effective Date: August 1, 2024
Related Policies:
Academic Rule 1.04 D Exam Variances: Exam Conflicts/Rescheduling and Accommodations
I. Rationale and Policy
Mitchell Hamline School of Law is a secular institution that values a diversity of religious and personal expressions. We have an active community with a wide range of personal commitments and academic and extracurricular events taking place daily. This policy identifies the secular holidays officially observed by MHSL for planning purposes. It also recognizes, however, that planning for academic and extracurricular events during times when MHSL is officially open should still be done to the extent reasonably feasible with sensitivity to the diverse religious commitments of the community and an awareness of religious and secular holidays.
A. Mitchell Hamline School of Law observes the following secular holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4, and Labor Day. The school typically is closed the fourth Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of November, and at least the last week of December.
B. The Law School also recognizes that there are other secular and religious holidays that affect members of our community, including but not limited to: Ashura, Christmas, Diwali, Easter, Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha, Good Friday, Hanukkah, Holi, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, the Muslim New Year, Passover, Purim, Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah, Shavout, Simchat Torah, Sukkot, Summer Solstice, Veterans Day, Winter Solstice, and Yom Kippur .
C. Members of the community should note that Jewish holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the published date of the holiday.
D. With at least two weeks’ advance notice, students may be excused from class and from taking examinations on such religious or secular holidays that affect them. Students who wish to observe such religious or secular holidays must inform their instructors of their intent to observe the holiday well in advance so that alternative arrangements convenient to both students and faculty can be made at the earliest opportunity. Students who make such approved 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. The student has the responsibility to make up the work from the missed time and coordinate with their faculty to do so. Final exam variances are managed by the Dean of Students under Academic Rule 1.04 D Exam Variances: Exam Conflicts/Rescheduling and Accommodations.
E. Exceptions to the requirement to provide attendance or exam variances under this Religious and Secular Holiday Observation Policy must be approved in advance by the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs.
* Adapted from Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays < University of Pennsylvania (upenn.edu)