Jewish groups are asking the University of Wisconsin to reconsider moving the first day of classes, which fall on Rosh Hashanah.
University administration expressed sympathy with Jewish students but stated that the academic calendar is set way in advance and cannot be altered at this point in time.
Their position is seemingly at odds with the six University of Wisconsin campuses who decided to change the school calendar last June due to the pandemic.
This year Rosh Hashanah comes early, starting the evening of September 6. The Jewish New Year’s timing with the first day of school creates a problem for Jewish students and staff at the university campuses, estimated to number least 4,000 Jews.
"No student or faculty member should be forced to make a choice between attending the first day of classes and observing a religious holiday," Wisconsin Jewish leaders wrote to interim University of Wisconsin President Tommy Thompson, the Board of Regents and campus chancellors.
They called the scheduling "particularly problematic from a welcoming and inclusion perspective” noting that the Madison School District changed its start date to earlier in the month to avoid the first day of school falling in the holiday. Other school districts in the state are doing the same.
According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the university said it will notify instructors of the conflict and instruct them to make course material available for remote learning. They also formed a committee to review upcoming academic calendars so a similar situation can be avoided in the future.