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.
Jump to requesting a religious housing or dining accommodation
Religious Dietary and Housing Needs at Stanford
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. If you require additional religious dietary accommodations beyond the kosher and halal provisions provided, please complete the forms below.
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
Students with other religious dietary needs should consult with the Office for Religious & Spiritual Life about how their needs can be accommodated at Stanford. Some religious dietary requirements, such as maintaining a vegetarian or vegan diet, can be accommodated in the dining halls. However, students with highly specific or complex restrictions may find it difficult to navigate these needs in the current COVID dining environment. Students who believe their religious dietary needs cannot be accommodated in the dining halls must request a different housing assignment with access to a kitchen to prepare their own foods.
Accommodation Deadlines
The ORSL will open up the religious accommodation form for the first two weeks of each quarter to care for acute religious accommodation needs for the current quarter that cannot be resolved after a conversation with your assigned RD (housing) or with one of Stanford Dining Inclusion Nutritionists.
The form will open at 9am on Monday and close on 5pm on Friday for these dates:
- Summer Quarter 2023: June 26 - July 7
- Fall Quarter 2023: September 25 - October 6
- Winter Quarter 2024: January 8 - January 19
- Spring Quarter 2024: April 1 - April 12
- Summer Quarter 2024: June 24 - July 5
For students who cannot fill out a Google Form, please email us.
For those of you who missed the deadline to apply for religious accommodation, we encourage you to work directly with your assigned RD should your needs not be able to be met through the regular house and room selection process.