MIT’s policy on academics and student absences for religious observances allows students to be absent from classes or to be excused from academic work or exams to observe a religious obligation or holiday if they coincide.
If you find that an assignment due date, exam, or class coincides with an observance in your faith, please contact your instructors as soon as possible – ideally, before the end of the second week of classes – to discuss options and make a plan for your absence.
Please consult this partial listing of religious holidays, compiled by the Registrar’s Office and the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life (ORSEL), to identify potential issues as early in the semester as possible.
Please contact Thea Keith-Lucas, chaplain to the Institute and associate dean for ORSEL, if you want more information about the policy or about specific religious holidays. Thea is available by email at theakl@mit.edu or by phone at 617-458-1253. Student Support Services (for undergraduates) or the Office of Graduate Education (for graduate students) are also available to discuss options with you and support your discussions with faculty.
Religious accommodations are offered in addition to other policies which the instructor of the subject has for excused absences or dropping the lowest grades. For example, if all students are allowed to drop their three lowest grades, a student would not be expected to use one of these three drops for a quiz or classwork that they missed due to a religious observance. An appropriate accommodation would be to allow the student to make up the missed work after the holiday.