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Marshall U. (West Virginia) gives official recognition to Pagan holida

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Terry McCombs

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Oct 20, 2007, 9:42:38 AM10/20/07
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Marshall University. (West Virginia) gives official recognition to Pagan
holidays

University adds Pagan holidays to absence list
by Katherine Reasons
Issue date: 10/19/07

After several controversial requests, the university's policy regarding
absences excused for religious reasons is under review, and the decision
has been made to add Pagan holidays to the list of excusable holidays.

"Based on the research I've done, Paganism is practiced by a group of
people large enough for it to be considered a major religion," Steve
Hensley, dean of student affairs, said.

Hensley said the current policy excuses absences that are "traditionally
celebrated by the world's major religions." The controversy lies in
whether a religion is "major," and if so, which of its holidays are
"traditionally celebrated."

"I think Good Friday is an excellent example," Hensley said.
"Christianity is clearly a major religion, but how many churches
actually hold services on Good Friday that would keep a student out of
school? These are the kinds of questions that come up."

Under the current policy, Hensley must use his judgment when either
granting or denying a university-excused absence.

Earlier this month, Hensley addressed the Budget and Academic Policy
Committee about the requests he has most recently received. The
committee is responsible for revising the written policy in the
undergraduate catalog.

Chris Green, chairman of the committee at the time, suggested that
Hensley collaborate with the department of religious studies to develop
a list of specific religious holidays that the university will excuse
upon request.

Hensley said potential problems with this idea include the chance that
students will abuse their right to be absent on these holidays. He said
the former policy of allowing instructors to exercise their judgment
concerning excused absences has some merit.

"The faculty know the students better than I do," he said. "Sometimes a
student comes into my office who I have never seen before, but the
faculty member has seen that student 20 or 30 times. Faculty members
have a better sense of the students' demeanor and motivation, their
seriousness and their academic effort."

Frances Hensley, vice president for academic affairs, said any type of
policy that excuses absences has the potential for conflict because of
the burden it places on professors. When an absence is excused,
professors are required to allow the student to make up the work he or
she missed.

"A university excuse says to a faculty member, 'You have to excuse the
student for this,' and we should be careful with that," she said. "We
are saying to the faculty, 'You must excuse this, and you must work with
students on making up their work."

Although the Budget and Academic Policy Committee is in the process of
developing a list of holidays to excuse, absences for religious holidays
are only excused if a request is given in advance to Steve Hensley in
the student affairs office located in room 2W38 of the Memorial Student
Center.

Katherine Reasons can be contacted at

reas...@marshall.edu.

The page for this along with comments can be found at

http://tinyurl.com/2t6wby

Terry

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