It has been a tradition of the University’s academic calendar to pay significant regard to the Jewish holidays. It seems noble to accommodate as many religious holidays as possible, but without getting into a religious debate, who does it really serve?

It serves a minority and it’s excellent that Jewish holidays are accommodated. However, when a fraction of the student body is put before the entire residential community and anyone else who lives more than two hours away, it doesn’t seem fair or logical. This is the case for this Thanksgiving break as classes are being held on Wednesday, Nov. 24.

The University ought to schedule days off that serve the greatest amount of people possible. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover serve a very limited group and do not deserve priority over days off that would otherwise benefit more people.

Scheduling is complicated by other holidays such as Labor Day and Christmas, as well as the commencement dates in both December and May. Those days impact when the first semester begins and ends. That, compounded with state law requirements, limits the administration’s flexibility in scheduling days off.

New York state law requires colleges to hold a minimum 2,250 minutes of class time for each three-credit undergraduate course. That breaks down to about 41 meetings a semester for a three-day-a-week class and 27 for a two-day-a-week class. So, accommodating holidays and travel days is not all that simple, but it’s not impossible. Conversion days are one way to help offset this problem, however, the University Senate avoids them because they are confusing and the faculty generally opposes them.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that the majority of students and faculty at this school celebrate. As the student body’s geographic diversity grows, it is important the administration be mindful of those that have a seven-hour flight to the west coast or an even longer drive elsewhere.

Boston University, the University of Connecticut and St. John’s – universities similar to this one – all provide the day off before Thanksgiving. These academic peers have student bodies similar to this one and appropriately accommodate them with adequate travel time.

The schedule forces many students to miss class, which adversely impacts their grade, or skip the holiday at home entirely. How is it reasonable to offer greater accommodation to the smaller population celebrating the Jewish holidays than it is to the much larger population that relies on a day prior to Thanksgiving for travel?

This is an incredibly obtuse scheduling policy that should be reevaluated. It is possible that accommodating certain days such as the one just before Thanksgiving is not practical given state requirements and other national holidays. However, that argument holds little merit when contrasted to the current system of prioritization.