Religious Accommodations

Academic Accommodations

ORSL recognizes there are a wide range of religious observances, holy days, and festivals not formally observed in the University Calendar. To observe a day not formally included on the University calendar, students are encouraged to work directly with your professors, to alert them to your absence and prepare any work required ahead of time to make up for your absence in class. If the religious observance you request is not on our multi-faith calendar, please contact stanfordorsl@stanford.edu.

Instructions on how to request academic accommodation

Students who will be missing class are asked to email their professors, as far in advance as possible, before the holiday to let them know they will not be in class that day due to a religious observance.
The email should be respectful and brief, ask what they need to do prior to the next class meeting and whether class notes or recordings will be available for the class they are missing.
At the beginning of the next class meeting, students should introduce themselves to the professor and follow up on any assignments or class notes they may have missed.

Sample Email for Religious Observance Academic Accommodation (36.39 KB)

Religious Dietary Restrictions

Religious Dietary Restriction Diagram created by Chapman University Fish Interfaith Center.

For information regarding the dietary restrictions of religious groups, please refer to this diagram created by Chapman University's Fish Interfaith Center.

Religious Housing and Dietary Needs at Stanford

Housing

Stanford is a diverse community with many different religious observances. Religious observance requests are now part of the Housing forms. Returning students can select from the existing lists of possible religious observance requests.

Dining

R&DE Stanford Dining prides itself on providing high-quality and nutritious cuisine to meet a wide variety of dietary needs within our diverse Stanford community. Read below to learn more about the accommodations that are available through R&DE Stanford Dining. Incoming freshmen undergo a different process with Approaching Stanford.

Kosher Dining

R&DE Stanford Dining will continue to offer a Glatt kosher lunch and dinner program in Florence Moore Dining Hall during the academic year in partnership with students, the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life, Hillel and Residential Education. R&DE Stanford Dining’s Mashgiach works closely with our staff to help students maintain a Glatt kosher diet, while also making the program manageable for the other students who keep a more relaxed form of kosher diet. Students can choose to live in Florence Moore and eat kosher meals in their residence or they can choose to live in another residence and be assigned to eat their meals in Florence Moore. If preferred, students requiring kosher meals can request their housing assignment to Florence Moore through the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life. To learn more about kosher dining, please contact nutritionist@stanford.edu.

Halal Dining

R&DE Stanford Dining offers a variety of food options to accommodate the dietary needs of Stanford’s Muslim community. All chicken served in the dining halls is certified halal and halal beef is also available on a rotating basis. We do not cook with alcohol in any of our recipes and we are conscious to avoid cross-contact of pork products during food production. During Ramadan we will provide Suhoor to-go boxes and Iftar meals in the dining halls to keep students well-nourished while fasting. This year, students in any on-campus residence will have access to halal dining options from R&DE Stanford Dining. To learn more about halal dining, please contact nutritionist@stanford.edu.

Other Religious Dietary Requirements

Stanford is a diverse community with many different religious observances. Stanford Dining offers vegan, vegetarian, Halal and Kosher Dining programs. If you have a religious observance that goes beyond what is offered by Stanford Dining, please meet with the nutritionist to explain your needs. If you would like to explore whether you might be eligible for a meal plan exemption, please make an appointment with one of the Stanford Nutritionists or email them at nutritionist@stanford.edu. After you meet with the nutritionist, Stanford Dining sends their recommendations to ORSL.