Harvard University is a microcosm of America and the world at large, and because of that, there is no doubt that the institution is one that is incredibly diverse. According to the College’s admissions website, “students represent all fifty states and more than 100 countries,” each of them bringing their own lived experiences, cultural backgrounds, and spiritual (or nonspiritual) beliefs with them to Cambridge. When engaging with the faith-related portion of the student body, the school takes a neutral, secularist stance, granting students the space to practice their own traditions without promoting any specific ones — at least not explicitly.
However, because Harvard still operates within the Christian framework it was founded upon, one faith implicitly does become prioritized over the rest. In order for it to truly be an equitable institution, it must let its false appeal to secularism go, and instead, actively work to give the full spectrum of spiritual identities that together form the undergraduate student body the same support.
Harvard and the Church
Harvard did not always aspire to maintain a neutral position when it came to religion. Today, the University is closely associated with its motto “Veritas,” Latin for “truth.” This is a tribute to the value of integrity and the pursuit of knowledge –– and a common sight on t-shirts, the gates into Harvard Yard, and even waffles in the dining halls, affectionately dubbed “veritaffles.”
However, the school originally had a different mission and, in accordance with it, a different motto: “In Christi Gloriam,” which translates to “For the glory of Christ” in Latin. When Harvard was first established, its goal was not to secularly train the next generation of leaders across the breadth of the arts and sciences, but rather to grant literacy to the next generation of Puritan ministers. A pamphlet published in 1642 titled “An Account of the Foundation of the Colleges at Cambridge in New England,” details this pursuit: “… one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches, when our present ministers shall lie in the dust. And as we were thinking and consulting how to effect this great work, it pleased God to stir up the heart of Mr. John Harvard …” All of this illustrates how the very core of Harvard University cannot be separated from the Church.
Much has changed over the years in terms of the institution’s religious affiliations –– it currently officially has none –– yet there are still aspects of Harvard that are inextricably linked with its Christocentric history. One of the most stark examples of this is the structure of the school year itself. Thanksgiving Break exists for the purpose of celebrating Thanksgiving, a holiday established by Puritans and originally observed by praying to the Christian God. While Winter Break does not have a namesake with such explicit cultural or religious ties, its timing allows students who observe Christmas to visit their loved ones, attend Church, or participate in any other activities that might allow them to fully engage with the holiday. This is a wonderful thing because it gives many Christian students the leverage to express their religious identity. But, when students observe faith-based traditions which don’t fall within these weeks when classes are off, they are faced with many more challenges.
Days of Observance
“It was very chaotic for me,” said Maya Robinson, a first-year at the College, about her experience observing a multitude of holidays at the start of the fall term in an interview with the HPR. Robinson, who identifies as Jewish, cannot do school work on Saturdays, due to Shabbat, or on religious days of observance. This left her immersed in a scheduling conundrum, in a position where she had significantly less time to complete her assignments in addition to the responsibility of rearranging her assessments, sometimes yielding unideal outcomes. For example, Robinson’s math midterm was originally supposed to be on Yom Kippur, a time which she describes as typically being “one of the most emotional days of the year.” Even with accommodations taking this into account, she ultimately had to take the exam at 7:30 a.m. the next morning. These combined pressures posed a significant challenge to her during her very first semester of college.
The problem of assignments piling up is echoed by other students as well. “At this school, there’s just, like, a lot of stuff being thrown at you,” said Navin Durbhakula, a sophomore at the College and co-president of Dharma, the undergraduate Hindu Students’ Association. “It’s very easy to fall behind. So, because of that, I don’t think a lot of students are able to fully experience the holidays, like as much as they would want to. Myself, personally, I know that’s the case.”
Harvard, in accordance with Massachusetts state law, does have an explicit absence policy for religious holidays, which states that “students shall be excused from class, review, or an exam due to their religious beliefs …” and that they “… will be offered an opportunity to make up the work without penalty …” Students have reported that many course faculty members they have engaged with have been cognizant and supportive of this.
Still, the policy requires students to take a significant amount of initiative themselves. For instance, they have to request accommodations as early as the very first week of classes or immediately following the release of an assignment date. An argument can be made that this pushes students to be responsible for their own education, preparing them for the independence that adulthood requires. On the other hand, if a student is uncomfortable confronting an instructor directly, if it’s unfeasible for them to plan months in advance, or if they’re unaware of the policy altogether, they could risk missing a tradition that matters deeply to them. And, extensions do not solve the problem of backlogged work; they only exacerbate it.
Is forcing already-busy students to self-navigate these murky logistical waters really the best Harvard can do? Because of the school’s extraordinary diversity, it is impossible for the responsibility of alleviating this burden to be placed on course faculty instead; they can’t know exactly how to prospectively design their courses to best support the spiritual identity of every student on campus. Still, if groups of students are facing a choice between their traditions and their academic pursuits when those who celebrate Christmas are not, an issue of inequity emerges. And that means there is work that can and should be done.
The Way Forward
To help lift some of these academic burdens that many students face, Harvard can begin with its absence policy, making it clearer and more accessible. In an interview with the HPR, Tova Kaplan, a first-year at the College, recalled feeling confused about how it applied to her classes and its relationships to the individual policies of her professors: “I would read my syllabuses, and it was kind of unclear … certain classes would have stipulations, like you could have up to two excused absences. And I’m like, but yeah, is religion an excused absence? But if I’m taking off three excused absences, does that cross the line?”
She also described how many of her friends were unaware that the policy even existed. They would go to class instead of engaging with their religious traditions because they thought that they didn’t have a choice. If the University directly communicated with students, telling them that the policy existed and was a tool they could use, in addition to providing a roadmap detailing how to use it, students would have more leverage to focus on their meaningful traditions rather than on scheduling.
While accommodations such as these are useful, they are still burdensome. They can be difficult to bring to a professor’s attention or can result in a stress-inducing backlog of work. To avoid these problems all-together, Harvard could cancel classes on religious holidays celebrated by a large scale of the student body. This is not a perfect solution; the hard truth is that the volume of traditions will inevitably leave some excluded. Still, it’s progress, with the potential to yield immensely positive outcomes when creating a more inclusive school culture.
When students have to actively ask to reschedule a test or push back a deadline, it sends a message that they do not fit into the norm of the class because of an aspect of their identity. But, if religious and spiritual traditions were automatically incorporated into the school schedule, it would be a signal to students that their community sees them, already recognizes and values their faith, and is making an active effort to support them. “Every effort should be made to accommodate people, and, you know, not just tolerate or accommodate, but celebrate traditions,” said Kaplan. Policies such as these would help turn this vision of intentional inclusion and celebration rather than mere tolerance into a reality.
Inserting religious holidays into the school calendar is a feasible goal; other educational organizations are already doing so. Cambridge Public Schools canceled classes on Yom Kippur in October, and New York City Public Schools will be closing in acknowledgment of Eid al-Fitr this spring. Both are institutions that are similar to Harvard in that they are officially religiously unaffiliated. Still, these schools recognize they have to provide some systemic support if they want their students to have the freedom to practice their faiths. While many institutions similar to Harvard do not yet follow the example of elementary and secondary schools such as these, if Harvard itself chose to, as a leader in higher education, it could set a precedent for colleges and universities across America.
Implementing such a measure would not necessarily be easy. Alongside it comes trade-offs and questions with no simple answers: about which traditions to include, how they should be acknowledged, and where to possibly squeeze them into the school’s already-packed semesters. But if it means that more students have the ability to engage with their traditions to the fullest, it should be given some thought and then a shot. And if it means more students feel seen, acknowledged, and embraced in their identities by the Harvard community of which they are a part, then it’s worth it.
Image by Meng Yu Zhang licensed under the Unsplash License.
