Over across the pond, the European Union has created a student calendar that included “Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Chinese holidays and festivals,” but apparently forgot Christian holidays.
On a somewhat related note, at today’s State Board of Community Colleges meeting board members moved to better accommodate religious diversity among students. Following a law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2009, the board agreed to require community colleges to allow at least two days off per year for religious observances:
The State Board of Community Colleges shall direct each community college to adopt a policy that authorizes a minimum of two excused absences each academic year for religious observances required by the faith of a student.
The law has not yet come in to effect, but some colleges have already adopted policies in the spirit of the law. Larry Keen, for instance, president of Fayetteville Technical Community College, has instructed faculty to allow students two excused absences per year for religious reasons.
Some critics have suggested that the policy might be abused–Keen joked about hungover students using it as an excuse to get out of class–but Keen said no abuses have been reported so far. He “didn’t want to get into the business of becoming religious holiday police,” but there are certain safeguards in place. For instance, religiously-excused absences must be arranged significantly in advance, cutting down on potential abuses.
