Supporting community members in their religious observances in the coming months
The Stanford community represents a wide range of faith traditions and worldviews. Tiffany Steinwert, dean for religious and spiritual life, highlights the resources her office offers to help students, faculty and staff anticipate and support observances during holy days this quarter.
Dear Stanford community,
Here at Stanford, we have an opportunity to learn about the many religious and cultural practices important to students, staff and faculty. In doing so, we cultivate a community where the fullness of who we are is embraced, affirmed and supported.
Below is an overview of Holy Days through March of this year. You can read more about these special celebrations and the ways they are observed in the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life’s calendar of major religious observances and this more comprehensive calendar.
Students and employees seeking religious accommodations should promptly contact their professors and managers, who in turn we hope will use these calendars and other ORSL resources and staff in order to anticipate and respond appropriately. These online calendars reach beyond winter quarter and can be helpful to those planning courses and events further into the future.
Stanford strives to nurture a community where all may observe the practices meaningful to them.
We recognize that in a global and diverse community observances vary not only by tradition, but also by personal preferences. They might involve dietary restrictions or fasting, stepping away for an hour or so to participate in a midday service or prayer, or taking time away from campus to mark the day with their religious communities.
In addition to awareness of these observances, important as that is, we hope understanding more about the religious observances of your colleagues and peers will provide new insight and wisdom in your own life. There is much to learn from these traditions, those familiar and unfamiliar to us.
Over the next quarter, we hope you will seize the opportunity to explore more about the religious and cultural traditions of our campus community. Our diversity is part of our strength as an institution. So as we begin 2022, thank you for supporting each other’s renewed exploration, curiosity and community.
Tiffany Steinwert
Dean for Religious and Spiritual Life