Scheduling to Avoid Conflict with Religious Holidays

Please use the guidelines below to avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, or activities on religious holidays that many individuals on our campus observe. For your convenience, we have also indicated UCSF campus holidays.

While it will be hard to avoid all conflicting dates, the Graduate Division asks all program directors, faculty, and staff to be sensitive to this issue and not schedule critical deadlines or events that students, faculty, or staff must attend on the dates listed below.

Note that UCSF must comply with California State Education Code section 92640, which says that an instructor must make a reasonable attempt to accommodate student needs in the case of serious incompatibility between a student's religious creed and a scheduled test or examination. Therefore:

  • Accommodation for alternative examination dates may be worked out directly and on an individual basis between the student and the faculty member involved.
  • Students should make such requests of the instructor during the first two weeks of an academic term, or as soon as possible after a particular examination date is announced by the instructor.
  • Students or faculty with questions may contact Nicquet Blake, dean of the Graduate Division.

If you have already scheduled an important event on one of the dates on this list, be sure to allow reasonable accommodations for students who observe the conflicting holiday.

Also, please bear in mind that it is not always comfortable for students to ask for accommodations, so you’ll want to give them opportunities to easily make such requests.

Thank you for your attention to this matter and for creating a supportive, inclusive environment for our students.

Religious and Campus Holidays 2023 through 2024

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Jewish and Islamic holidays (denoted with "^") begin at sundown the day before listed date.
  • Islamic holidays are approximate and can vary by one day.

2023

  • Christmas (Eastern Orthodox), Jan. 7 (every year)
  • Chinese New Year, Jan. 22, 2023
  • Ash Wednesday (Lent begins), Feb. 22, 2023
  • ^Purim, March. 7, 2023
  • Holi, March 7-8, 2023
  • Persian New Year (Nowruz), March 22, 2023 (begins evening of March 21)
  • ^Ramadan, March 23 – April 21, 2023**
  • Good Friday, April 7, 2023
  • ^Pesach/Passover, April 6-13, 2023*
  • Easter, April 9, 2023
  • Orthodox Good Friday, April 14, 2023
  • Orthodox Easter, April 16, 2023
  • ^Eid al-Fitr, April 22, 2023**
  • ^Shavuot, May 26-27, 2023
  • ^Eid al-Adha, June 29, 2023***
  • ^Rosh Hashanah, Sep. 16-17, 2023
  • ^Yom Kippur, Sep. 25, 2023
  • ^Sukkot, Sep. 30 – Oct 6, 2023*
  • ^Simchat Torah, Oct. 8, 2023
  • Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, Oct. 17, 2023
  • Diwali, Nov. 12-16, 2023
  • ^Chanukah, Dec. 8-15, 2023
  • Christmas, Dec. 25, 2023 (also a UCSF holiday)

Also be aware of these UCSF campus holidays in 2023:

  • New Year's holiday, Jan. 2, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 16, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Presidents Day, Feb. 20, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Cesar Chavez Day, March 31, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Memorial Day, May 29, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Independence Day, July 4, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Labor Day, Sep. 4, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Veterans Day, Nov. 10, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Thanksgiving holiday, Nov. 23-24, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Christmas holiday, Dec. 25-26, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • New Year's holiday, Dec 29, 2023 (UCSF campus holiday)

2024

  • Christmas (Eastern Orthodox), Jan. 7 (every year)
  • Lunar New Year begins, Feb. 10, 2024
  • Ash Wednesday (Lent begins), Feb. 14, 2024
  • ^Persian New Year (Nowruz) March 20, 2024
  • ^Purim, March 24, 2024
  • Holi, March 24-25, 2024  
  • ^Ramadan March 11 – April 9, 2024**
  • Good Friday, March 29, 2024
  • Easter, March 31, 2024
  • ^Eid al-Fitr, April 10, 2024**
  • ^Pesach/Passover April 23 – 30, 2024*
  • Orthodox Good Friday, May 3, 2024
  • Orthodox Easter, May 5, 2024
  • ^Shavuot, June 12 – 13, 2024  
  • ^Eid al-Adha, June 17, 2024***
  • ^Rosh Hashanah, Oct. 3 – 4, 2024
  • ^Yom Kippur, Oct. 12, 2024
  • ^Sukkot, Oct. 17 – 23, 2024*
  • ^Simchat Torah, Oct. 25, 2024
  • Diwali, Nov. 1, 2024
  • Birth of Bahá’u’lláh - Nov. 2, 2024
  • ^Chanukah, Dec. 25, 2024 – Jan. 2, 2025
  • Christmas, Dec. 25, 2024 (Also a UCSF Holiday)

Also be aware of these UCSF campus holidays in 2024:

  • New Year’s holiday, Jan. 1, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Jan. 15, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Presidents’ Day, Feb. 19, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Cesar Chavez Day, March 29, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Memorial Day, May 27, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Juneteenth National Independence Day, June 19, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Independence Day, July 4, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Labor Day, Sep. 2, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Thanksgiving holiday, Nov. 28-29, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • Christmas holiday, Dec 24-25, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)
  • New Year’s Eve holiday, Dec 31, 2024 (UCSF campus holiday)

 

*Avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, or activities on the first two days of Sukkot, and on the first two and last two days of Passover.

**If possible, avoid scheduling major academic deadlines during the month of Ramadan, and especially during Eid al-Fitr, the three days just following Ramadan. Be sensitive to the fact that students and employees celebrating Ramadan will be fasting during the day, continuously for 30 days, and may have less energy as a result.

*** Avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, or activities on the first day of Eid al-Adha.