1-26-25: CUNY Policy of Religious Accommodations

TO: John Jay Community
FROM: Allison Pease, Ph.D., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dominic Stellini, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students
Myrna Forney, Chief Legal Counsel
Oswald E. Fraser,  Assistant Vice President for Administration
DATE: January 26, 2026
RE:  CUNY Policy of Religious Accommodations

Dear John Jay Community,

Diversity enriches our campus community. We acknowledge the diverse cultural and religious observances that occur throughout the year, and ask you to do the same. John Jay provides reasonable accommodations for religious observances for all members of our community, consistent with the CUNY Policy on Religious Accommodations and CUNY’s Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Policy.

While this is not an exhaustive list, we take this opportunity to share CUNY’s “All Religions & Ethnic Holiday Calendar”. We ask all faculty, staff and students to consult the calendar before scheduling events and/or exams. Students are expected to provide advance notice to faculty of any potential conflict. All members of the College community are asked to make reasonable efforts to avoid scheduling conflicts. Reasonable accommodations should be granted in accordance with College policy.

Students requesting religious accommodations should contact the Office of the Dean of Students at deanofstudents@jjay.cuny.edu. Employees requesting religious accommodations should contact their supervisor or AVP for Administration Oswald Fraser at ofraser@jjay.cuny.edu. Reasonable accommodations may include, but are not limited to, flexible arrival and/or departure times, permission to make up a test or lecture, leave or assignment changes, time and/or space to pray, or an accommodation relating to appearance or dress. You may find more information on religious accommodations here. 

For general questions or to report a concern regarding CUNY’s non-discrimination policies, please contact the Chief Diversity Officer and Director, Office of Compliance & Diversity, at cdo@jjay.cuny.edu.

We thank you for your continued support of our spiritual, religious, and cultural diversity. We are proud to be a part of the John Jay family!