Polices Policies and Procedures

Religious Holidays

Washington State University understands, values and respects the unique spiritual and secular practices and needs of students, faculty, and staff. Doing so is at the core of our commitment to affirming and validating the holistic needs and experience of our community members. It is also our responsibility to comply with the State of Washington SB 5166 from 2019, which requires WSU to “Accommodate student absences to allow students to take holidays for reasons of faith or conscience or for organized activities conducted under the auspices of religious denomination, church, or religious organization, so that students’ grades are not adversely impacted by the absences.”

Additionally, in 2024 the Faculty Senate approved revisions to Academic Regulations 72, 82, and 104 to provide a request and appeal process for students seeking religious accommodations for absences related to faith, conscience, and organized religious activities. A reasonable religious accommodation is a modification to a policy or practice within an academic, housing, or extracurricular environment to enable a student to avoid conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs or practices. A religious accommodation is reasonable if it does not cause undue hardship to WSU operations; factors include safety, cost, efficiency, academic requirements, business needs, and the rights of others. Reasonable religious accommodations are individualized to the needs of the students who request them and the settings for which they are requested.

Please see the WSU Student Religious Accommodations Policy, Executive Policy 15 (the WSU policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment), and the Interfaith Calendar immediately below, for more information.

WSU Interfaith Calendar

This calendar of WSU holidays, traditional observances, and major days of religious significance covers the 2024-2025 academic year. You can use the calendar to help identify classes, exams, activities, or events which may intersect with religious observances.