Religious Calendar

The UIC Senate Policy on religious holidays (approved May 25, 1988) is below:

"The faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago shall make every effort to avoid scheduling examinations or requiring that student projects be turned in or completed on religious holidays. Students who wish to observe their religious holidays shall notify the faculty member by the tenth day of the semester of the date when they will be absent unless the religious holiday is observed on or before the tenth day of the semester. In such cases, the students shall notify the faculty member at least five days in advance of the date when he/she will be absent. The faculty member shall make every reasonable effort to honor the request, not penalize the student for missing the class, and if an examination or project is due during the absence, give the student an exam or assignment equivalent to the one completed by those students in attendance. If the student feels aggrieved, he/she may request remedy through the campus grievance procedure."

EEOC Guidance: What You Should Know About Workplace Religious Accommodation

Academic Year Holidays and Religious Days of Special Observance

2019-2020 Academic Year 2020-2021 Academic Year Holiday or Observance Affiliation Notes
8/10/2019 sunset to 8/11/2019 sunset # 7/30/2020 sunset to 7/31/2020 sunset # Eid al-Adha # Islamic
8/26/2019 8/24/2020 Instruction Begins
8/28/2019 * 8/11/2020* Janmashtami Hinduism
9/2/2019 9/7/2020 Labor Day - No Classes National University Holiday
9/29/2019 sunset to 10/1/2019 sunset* 9/18/2020 sunset to 9/20/2020 sunset Rosh Hashanah (New Year)* Jewish
10/8/2019 sunset to 10/9/2019 sunset* 9/27/2020 sunset to 9/28/2020 sunset* Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)* Jewish
9/9/2019 sunset to 9/10/2019 # 8/28/2020 sunset to 8/29/2020 sunset # Ashura # Islamic, Shia
10/13/2019 sunset to 10/20/2019 sunset * 10/2/2020 sunset to 10/9/2020 sunset * Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles)* Jewish Primary Obligation Days Oct 14-15, 2019
10/20/2019 sunset to 10/22/2019 sunset 10/9/2020 sunset to 10/11/2020 sunset * Shemini Atzert/ Simchat Torah* Jewish Primary Obligation Days Oct 21-22, 2019
10/8/2019 10/25/2020 Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami) Hinduism
10/27/2019 * 11/14/2020 * Diwali* Hinduism
10/29/2019 sunset to 10/30/2019 sunset 10/18/2020 sunset to 10/19/2020 sunset Birth of Bha'u'llah* Baha'i
11/9/2019 sunset to 11/10/2019 sunset # 10/28/2020 sunset to 10/29/2020 sunset # Mawlid al-Nabi # Islamic
11/28/2019 11/26/2020 Thanksgiving - No Classes National University Holiday
11/29/2019 11/27/2020 Designated Holiday #1 University Except for Group B**
12/13/2019 12/11/2020 Last Day of Finals
12/22/2019 sunset to 12/30/2019 sunset 12/10/2020 sunset to 12/18/2020 sunset Hanukkah (Chanukah) Jewish Commemorative - does not require absence from work
12/25/2019 12/25/2020 Christmas Observed National University Holiday
12/26/2019 to 1/1/2020 12/26/2020 to 1/1/2021 Kwanzaa Interfaith / African American Commemorative - does not require absence from work
12/26/2019 12/26/2020 Designated Holiday #2 University
1/1/2020 1/1/2021 New Years Day Observed National University Holiday
1/7/2020 1/7/2021 Orthodox Christmas Orthodox Christian Orthodox
1/13/2020 1/11/2021 Instruction Begins
1/20/2020 1/18/2021 Martin Luther King Day National University Holiday
2/21/2020 3/11/2021 Maha Shivarti* Hinduism
3/9/2020 sunset to 3/10/2020 sunset 2/25/2021 sunset to 2/26/2021 sunset Purim Jewish
3/9/2020 sunset to 3/10/2020 sunset 3/29/2021 Holi* Hinduism
3/23/2020 to 3/27/2020 3/22/2021 to 3/26/2021 Spring Break - No Classes University
4/8/2020 sunset to 4/10/2020 sunset* 3/27/2021 sunset to 3/29/2021 sunset* Passover (Pesach) - First Two Days* Jewish Primary Obligation Days Apr 9-10, 2020
4/10/2020 4/2/2021 Good Friday Christian
4/12/2020 4/4/2021 Easter Christian
4/13/2020 4/14/2021 Vaisakhi Sikh
4/14/2020 sunset to 4/16/2020 sunset* 4/1/2021 sunset to 4/3/2021 sunset* Passover (Pesach) - Last Two Days* Jewish Primary Obligation Days Apr 15-16, 2020
4/17/2020 4/30/2021 Orthodox Good Friday Orthodox Christian
4/19/2020 5/2/2021 Orthodox Easter Orthodox Christian
4/24/2020 # 4/13/2021 # Beginning of Ramadan # Islamic
5/7/2020 5/26/2021 Visakha Puja Buddhist
5/8/2020 5/7/2021 Last Day of Finals
5/18/2020 5/17/2021 Four Week Instruction Begins
5/19/2020 # 5/8/2021 # Laylat al Qadr Islamic
5/24/2020 # 5/13/2021 # Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan) Islamic
5/25/2020 5/31/2021 Memorial Day National University Holiday
5/28/2020 sunset to 5/30/2020 5/16/2021 sunset to 5/18/2021 sunset * Shavuot* Jewish
6/12/2020 6/10/2021 Four Week Session Ends
6/15/2020 6/14/2021 Eight Week Instruction
7/4/2020 (7/3/2020 University Holiday) 7/4/2020 (7/5/2020 University Holiday) Independence Day National University Holiday
8/7/2020 8/4/2021 Eight Week Sessions Ends

This list is NOT all-inclusive and customs may use a variation of the dates listed. If a holiday is not listed, that does not mean the holiday is not observed.

Shabbat (Jewish) is observed every Friday from sunset until Saturday sunset.
* These holidays have been designated non-work days by the religions that celebrate them.
** Group B – For employees working in the hospital, clinics, Office for the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services, all departments under the Department of Facilities Management and Capital Programs, Environmental Health and Safety, Telecommunications Services, Facility and Space Planning, UIC Police Department, Campus Auxiliary Services, and Biological Resources Laboratory.
# Some of these dates are not fixed to a calendar but are based on the actual sighting of the moon and/or astronomical calculations, therefore there may be some variance by a day.