Policies
The University is a religiously diverse community and our policies and procedures of Religious & Spiritual Life honor the spirit of that diversity. We strive to be both “multi-faith” and “interfaith,” meaning that we honor each tradition in its uniqueness and particularity while also celebrating the diversity and the challenges and opportunities that diversity brings by forming an intentional, interfaith community in the chapel and the campus at large.
Foundational Principles Guiding Community Life of Religious & Spiritual Life
- The Ä¢¹½´«Ã½’s Religious & Spiritual Life is home to the religions of the world. It serves as “an house of prayer for all peoples.” It is both a place for the practice of all faith traditions and a religious and spiritual center that supports interreligious learning, dialogue and action. Religious & Spiritual Life provides resources and opportunities to flourish on campus serving students, faculty, staff and the larger community. Religious & Spiritual Life contributes through its programs and activities to the mission of the University to educate students and prepare them for life in a pluralistic and diverse world.
- All religious and/or spiritual groups are welcome. Each group is expected to have a chaplain or other religious or group leader (appointed by the religious or spiritual group or by the University) and a student leader, both of whom are asked to agree in writing to comply with the chapel’s statement of policies of affiliation and the Communal Expectations for Religious Life (see below) to ensure a clear understanding of the University’s expectations for its religious and spiritual groups. All recognized groups and their recognized leaders are expected to abide by these policies and communal expectations for life in a multi-faith community.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Religious & Spiritual Life, which all religious and spiritual groups support, is:
- To enhance religious and spiritual life at the University through supporting the affiliated religious communities in their mission to serve members of their particular faith tradition
- To provide a place of worship, hospitality, and welcome for all members of the University community
- To raise ethical and moral issues of the day within the University community
- To serve as a reconciling agency within the University community
- To serve as an advocate and support for individuals within the University community
- To provide a structure for facilitating communication and understanding
- Between the various University offices and departments and the many religious and/or spiritual groups represented on campus
- Among religious and/or spiritual groups at the University
- To promote interreligious dialogue, education and action
- To reach out to and serve the larger, general community
Religious Holidays
The School of Arts and Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences policy and practice is that classes will not be canceled on religious holidays. It is expected, however, that students will not be penalized in any way for observing religious holidays. Instructors are asked not to schedule examinations in conflict with such holidays. See the list of interfaith religious holidays for further information.
New York State Education Law provides that students who choose not to attend classes or take exams on certain days because of their religious beliefs will be given an equivalent opportunity to make up the work requirements or exams they miss without penalties.