Dear Slugs,
Many members of our campus community will be observing Ramadan through fasting, prayer, community gatherings, and friendship over the next month. This message is intended to provide our campus community with information about observing and celebrating Ramadan.
Dining Options
Iftar: UCSC Dining Services will offer increased Halal food options at all of the Late Night Dining Halls. They will offer dates for students to break their fast. Three campus dining halls offer Ramadan options from sunset to 11 p.m.:
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College 9/John R. Lewis Dining Hall, seven days per week
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Cowell/Stevenson Dining Hall, Sunday - Thursday
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Rachel Carson/Oakes Dining Hall, Sunday - Thursday
Suhoor: Porter, Merrill and Slug Stop markets will sell items you can purchase for suhoor. Available items will include cereals, oatmeal, yogurt and hard-boiled eggs.
In addition to the markets, if you go to the dining hall for iftar, you can use a second meal swipe and pay a small deposit to get a to-go Eco-Box* for the next day's suhoor. There will be a variety of items available for breakfast such as cereal, oatmeal, bagels, whole fruit and dates. Learn more about Dining Services offerings during Ramadan. Please note that due to spring break, all dining halls will be closed Saturday, March 23 until dinner service on Sunday, March 31.
*More about the Eco-Box program: A deposit of 10 Slug Points or Banana Bucks will be collected for use of the Eco-Box. The deposit will be returned when the box is returned. If you lose your Eco-Box, you lose the deposit. The Eco-Box program is generally available Monday through Friday until 10 p.m. However, the program will also be available on weekends throughout Ramadan.
Available Spaces for Prayer
Prayer above College 9/JRL: The Alumni Room above College 9/JRL dining hall will be made available as a prayer space in the evenings. The room will be available from 7-11 p.m. nightly during Ramadan (excluding spring break). Dates and water will be available outside the room. On certain nights, the Alumni Room may not be available. If that is to occur, an alternate space will be made available.
Reflection Center at Quarry Plaza: I am happy to share that the Reflection Center in the Quarry Plaza will be open for 24 hours during Ramadan for individual prayer.
Testing Accommodations
The UCSC registrar policy website outlines the policy for academic accommodations:
Given the diversity of religious practice within the campus community, academic and administrative units are encouraged to make reasonable accommodations when the schedule of a required campus event conflicts with an individual’s religious creed. It is the official policy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, to accommodate, without penalty, requests for alternate test or examination times in cases where the scheduled time for the test or examination violates a student’s religious creed, unless the request cannot be reasonably accommodated.
It is a good practice to let your professors know ahead of time if you are going to miss class, need an extension on an assignment, and/or need to request an alternate test time as related to your celebration and observation of Ramadan.
Programming
The UCSC Muslim Student Association (MSA) will be holding events to educate and engage the campus community during Ramadan. For more information please follow MSA on instagram (@ucsc.msa).
Ramadan Mubarak,
Garrett
Garrett Naiman
Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Development and Engagement and Dean of Students
Division of Student Affairs and Success
