Designated prayer spaces and religion-friendly dining options are among the ways U.S. colleges try to meet the religious and spiritual needs of undergraduate and graduate students.
“Religious accommodations are important for ensuring a campus environment in which students of all religious and secular identities can thrive,” says Rebecca Russo, vice president of higher education strategy at Interfaith America, a national nonprofit organization.
About 71% of American college students affiliate with a religion, 40% attend a religious service at least once a month and 38% pray daily, according to a report — last updated in December 2023 — by Gitnux, an independent market research platform.
Russo says not only do religious accommodations meet the important daily needs of students, “they also signal a spirit of inclusion and invite people to bring their full selves to the campus community.”
Here’s what to know about religious accommodations on U.S. college campuses.
Statements and Policies
Students can typically find a college’s religious accommodation statement and policy on the school website.
For example, the religious accommodation policy at Emory University in Georgia contains information ranging from religious holidays to dietary and housing accommodations. It states that the school seeks to “create a campus climate that is welcoming and inclusive of religious, philosophical, and nonreligious diversity.”
The University of Arizona‘s religious accommodation policy includes a Q&A section with questions like, “As a student, how should I ask my instructor for a religious accommodation?” The page also lists a contact email and phone number for individuals who feel discriminated against due to denial of a requested religious accommodation.
Students should also reach out to a school directly for information, experts say.
“Being proactive is the best advice I can offer,” says Rev. Chris Donald, university chaplain and director of religious life at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. “If you know you have particular, nonnegotiable aspects of your religious or spiritual practice, ask about them in that community or academic program.”
Religious Holidays
Many schools allow students to make requests for excused absences during religious holidays, which may result in an exam or assignment due date being rescheduled or make-up work being assigned.
Syracuse University in New York has a religious observances policy that explains general guidelines, including how to request holiday absences and a link to a calendar of “holy days” and other holidays observed.
“Students are encouraged to share with their professors when they need accommodations during a high holiday season,” says Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi, vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the University of the Pacific in California. “Our faculty are diligent in working with students to make sure they can meet their class requirements and continue to fully engage in their religious and spiritual practices.”
The University of Denver in Colorado details procedures that students can follow to request a religious accommodation for academic requirements, including how to appeal a denial.
After enrolling every semester, students should review course syllabi to ensure that academic deadlines don’t clash with a personal religious observance and, if necessary, reach out to instructors in writing as soon as possible, Donald says.
“I find faculty are more likely to offer flexibility in deadlines when students are proactive,” he says.
[READ: Diversity Questions for Colleges: What to Ask.]
Prayer Rooms and Facilities
Many schools have dedicated prayer spaces for students of different faiths, some of which came about after student requests. North Carolina State University offers several interfaith prayer and meditation spaces on campus, such as in the student union and the main university library.
“We offer time and space for religious rituals, including weekly ritual gatherings for Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Jewish students, as well as opportunities for students of varied or no religious background,” says Rev. Kristen Glass Perez, university chaplain and executive director for religious and spiritual life at Northwestern University in Illinois.
Apart from prayer spaces, the University of Delaware has ablution stations — for ritual washing of hands, feet and faces — in the men’s and women’s restrooms in the student union, and the University of Rochester in New York has two gendered ablution stations near a dedicated meditation and prayer room and adjacent to a chapel.
Emory University-Oxford College in Georgia also added an ablution room. “This has been a welcome addition to any communities who include ablution as part of their preparation for worship or prayer,” says Rev. Lyn Pace, college chaplain.
Pace says it’s important to keep worship and prayer practices as seamless as possible when students move from home to campus. “We know this can be one of the predictors of helping them navigate the transition and change of college, especially when it comes to homesickness or loneliness.”
Dining Services
Many colleges have dining options specifically catered to religious diets, from kosher and halal to vegetarian.
The University of California, Santa Cruz uses colored icons to help students identify foods that meet their religious diet, such as icons indicating an item is halal, vegetarian or contains pork. Dining services at Boston University in Massachusetts have kosher and halal food options, and Shabbat meals are served on Fridays and Saturdays.
Glass Perez says Northwestern offers Ramadan and Passover meal plans to any student, regardless of their meal plan type.
“Our hope is to provide a series of support systems, so that students who orient around religion and spiritual identity differently can have a common life together and in doing so, enhance their sense of belonging at the university,” Glass Perez says.
[READ: A Guide to Seminaries, Divinity Schools, Theology and Religious Studies.]
Housing and Residential Life
Many colleges accept requests for religious and cultural identity-based housing.
At the University of California-Berkeley, these include all-women’s and all-men’s floors or suites based on religious or cultural beliefs or practice, and semi-private bathrooms. The school also offers housing within proximity of places of worship.
Lomax-Ghirarduzzi says University of the Pacific housing provides accommodations for students with religious needs, such as requests to live on a floor with a single gender or requests for private restrooms.
“The student just needs to communicate their religious accommodations needs during the application process,” she says.
Student Clubs
School websites typically provide a current list of active spiritual and religious student groups on campus. These groups can provide engagement, community and connection.
Emory’s Office of Spiritual and Religious Life supports about 40 religious and philosophical student organizations on campus, according to the school’s website. At Oxford College, there are clubs such as the Hindu Student Association, Buddhist Club, Muslim Students Association, Jewish Student Union, Journey Christian Fellowship and Catholic Student Union.
Pace says his office works closely with the organizations’ student leaders to “help them offer their groups as a place of welcome for others to come and observe and learn more about who they are, what they believe and practice, and how this looks in the day-to-day.”
Some schools have spiritual and religious life offices on campus and chaplains of different faiths to support their students. For example, Tufts University in Massachusetts lists seven chaplains on the school website. Vanderbilt has three on-staff chaplains and nine affiliated chaplains from the community outside campus, Donald says.
“We work to ensure students of all religious, spiritual and secular perspectives feel welcomed and included,” he says.
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Religious Accommodations at U.S. Colleges: What to Know originally appeared on usnews.com
