Two Days Off for Orthodox Easter

We, the undersigned, members of the Christian Orthodox community of the Jacobs University, hereby kindly request that we are excused from classes and examinations for two days, when the Christian Orthodox Easter will be celebrated. This year, the period ranges from Monday 20th to Tuesday 21st April 2009 (the first day of Easter falls always on a Sunday).

Easter is the most important religious holiday celebrated in all the Christian world, regardless of the particular confession (be it Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox). In the Orthodox countries, Easter is very much connected to tradition, to spending time with family, even for the least "affectionate" Christians or even for non-believers, we dare to say.

We have noticed that an overwhelming majority (this is just to avoid saying "all") of the spring breaks that we, Jacobs students, have got over the years have coincided with the Easter celebration in the Catholic and Protestant community. This is understandable, as we live in a country where Catholicism and Protestantism are the official confessions. However, in our international environment, there is a very large number of students who celebrate Easter according to the Orthodox calendar. Those people have to come to classes during Easter, not to mention sometimes they even have to go through midterm exams.

What we would like to ask the administration is to give this majority of students (coming from a vast Eastern-European area) the chance to celebrate Easter, if not necessarily at home with their families, at least without having to be in class. We would like to ask two days off to allow us to celebrate Easter, as well.

Please grant us a formal pardon for not being in class during the above-mentioned period of time, so that we can enjoy this celebration in the way we see fit.