Commitment to Religious and Spiritual Life at Lafayette
Lafayette College provides the opportunity for members of the College community to freely explore any religious traditions or spiritual practices of their choosing. The student body is spiritually diverse, and opportunities for worship and practice are available from a wide range of religious and spiritual traditions.
If Lafayette does not have an on-campus community to fit your needs, a chaplain will be sure to connect you with resources in the greater Lehigh Valley community.
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Major Religious Holidays
The following list of holidays are ones that involve fasting, require worship attendance, or prohibit work. It is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all religious traditions or observances. Students may request a Dean’s Excuse for Religious Observances by emailing Chaplain Alex Hendrickson, Rabbi Alex Malanych, or by contacting their class dean. More details can be found here. Holidays marked with an asterisk begin and end at sundown.
FALL SEMESTER 2026
August 15: Feast of the Assumption of Mary (Protestant Christian/Catholic)
August 25-26: Mawlid-al-Nabi (Islam)
September 4: Krishna Janmashtami (Hindu)
September 8-15: Paryushan (Jain)
September 11-13: Rosh Hashanah (Jewish)*
September 20-21: Yom Kippur (Jewish)*
September 25 – October 2: Sukkot (Jewish)*
October 2-3: Shemini Atzeret (Jewish)*
October 3-4: Simchat Torah (Jewish)*
October 22: Birth of the Bab (Bahá’í)*
October 23: Birth of Bahá’ú’lláh* (Bahá’í)*
November 1: All Saints’ Day (Protestant Christian /Catholic)
November 2: All Souls’ Day (Protestant Christian /Catholic); Dia de Los Muertos (Catholic & Cultural)
November 8: Diwali (Hindu, Jain)
November 22: Feast of Christ the King (Protestant Christian /Catholic)
November 24: Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib (Sikh); Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Sahib (Sikh)
November 27-28: Ascension of Abdu’l-Bahá (Bahá’í)*
November 29: Advent Begins (Protestant Christian/Catholic)
December 3: Feast of St. Xavier (Catholic)
December 4-12: Hanukkah (Jewish)*
December 8: Bohdi Day (Buddhist)
December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Catholic)
December 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Catholic)
December 25: Christmas (Protestant Christian/Catholic)
December 26-1: Kwanzaa (Cultural)
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