Ramadan, Easter, and Passover Coincide

Ramadan, Easter, and Passover are celebrated during the same week only three times each century, but such was the case during the first week of April 2023. Muslim students are halfway through their month-long observance of Ramadan, during which they pray and fast from sunrise to sunset to purify themselves, self-reflect, and show devotion to Allah. Many Muslims also use the holiday as an opportunity to practice kindness, empathize with those who suffer from food insecurity, and make charitable donations to people living in poverty. On April 5th, Jewish students began a week-long celebration of Passover, which commemorates Hebrew liberation from enslavement in Egypt. Like Ramadan, Passover is a time to be sympathetic toward people experiencing hardship and injustice. During this time, Jews abstain from eating chametz, which is leaven food prepared with wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye, and some avoid food that is not labeled as “kosher for Passover.” Christian students began observing Holy Week, which is kicked off by Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem in anticipation of Easter Sunday. Easter serves to remind Christians of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection, which symbolizes God’s triumph over hatred and oppression. Some students celebrated Easter by attending Easter Sunrise, an annual performance by the Centenary Choir that begins at sunrise in the Bandshell. And every year, students receive time off from school to observe the holiday.

Muslim students at Centenary participating in Ramadan began providing various traditional foods and educating non-Muslim students about the holiday in the Brown Chapel several years ago, to which they typically receive positive feedback, but some believe Centenary could be doing more to recognize and support its Muslim students in return. A reoccurring struggle for Muslim students is that they still have to pay for a meal plan that they do not utilize during Ramadan. This issue is perpetuated by the fact that the cafeteria often does not accommodate Muslim students by serving halal food during the late-night dining hours that Muslim students are able to attend. Although Muslim students are grateful for the accommodations they have received from individual faculty and staff members, the process of advocating for those accommodations is extensive and could be expanded and streamlined by the college at an institutional level in order to meet the needs of all Muslim students, rather than just those who advocate consistently for themselves. Junior Visar Rraci, one of the students affected by this issue, said

“Centenary has been very proactive at initiating conversations and accepting feedback about how to make the campus a more inclusive space for Muslim students. Iqra Jatoi, who is now a Centenary graduate, and I have held many different Islamic-oriented events on campus that served as learning opportunities for non-Muslim students. I also feel very comfortable going to administration and advocating for change, and I believe that they have put in effort to accommodate us. In previous semesters, the accommodations that Sodexo offered to Muslim students during this time did not suffice my personal needs or the rest of the Muslim students for this holy month. So, Iqra and I, as members of the International Student Ambassadors, resorted to the Student Government Association for funding to create Ramadan food baskets for students that are observing Ramadan on campus, and they worked wonders!”

Although the Student Government Association was able to finance the food baskets for a few students that semester, Rraci felt the college’s administration should be made aware of the issue for future semesters and more Muslim students to come. As a more sustainable alternative to the food baskets, he applied for a meal plan exemption for the Spring semester to avoid paying for one month of food that would never be eaten due to the dietary restrictions of Ramadan, but he was ultimately denied. Although the circumstances have been less than ideal, Rraci insists that some good has come out of the situation. Mr. Bob Blue, the Vice President for Finance & Administration, reached out to Rraci to discuss solutions. Following their meeting, Rraci worked closely with Ms. Shanta and Ms. Carbon from Sodexo (the college’s contracted food supplier) to find the best accommodations. Even though receiving those accommodations took some time to navigate, Rraci says he “wants to continue this journey of advocating for the Muslim students on campus so that Centenary becomes an even more inclusive community.”

Furthermore, although there are few Jewish students on campus, there is currently little to no recognition of Passover. Despite the significance of Passover, when the holiday does not coincide with Easter, students celebrating are not granted excused time off from school as they are for the Easter holiday and other Christian-based holidays such as Mardi Gras, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. About this disproportionate recognition, Senior Reneé Katz said, “Passover overlaps with Easter, so there weren’t any classes during the holiday. I was unable to celebrate and attend services for other Jewish holidays in the past that did not coincide with Christian holidays as my professor refused to count the absence as excused.” She continued, “I think recognizing non-Christian holidays isn’t as simple as an Instagram post describing the holiday. Centenary should recognize non-Christian holidays by granting students the ability to observe their holidays without having to choose between their faith and their education. Dr. Ciocchetti has been very active in helping me fight for this, but I feel that Centenary needs to do a better job educating the professors on these holidays so they are better able to accommodate their students.”

Some quotes in this article were edited by the author for clarity.