An agreement to assure there will be no repetition of conflicts with Jewish holy days in class scheduling at the start of the school year has been reached with Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, according to the regional office here of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith. Philip R. Shriver, president of the university, said the first day of classes for the next four academic years, starting next fall, will be scheduled to avoid conflict with the High Holy Days.
The agreement was announced by Hersh L. Adlerstein, director of the ADL regional office for Ohio and Kentucky, after a meeting with representatives of Jewish community relations agencies from throughout Ohio.
The ADL official said Shriver had indicated appreciation to the Jewish agencies for “alerting me to the particular sense of concern of the Jewish community that the first day of classes not coincide with a religious holiday, particularly Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.” The meeting was a result of such conflicts in prior years. Shriver said that when “we make out the calendar for 1976-80. we shall certainly keep this in mind. The first day of classes in those years will fall on some other date.”
The ADL official said that in prior years there had been such problems with almost every university in Ohio. He said some had been settled at the local level and others required participation of agencies throughout the state. Robert L. Reiner of the Jewish Community Council of Dayton, headed the delegation which met with Shriver. Adlerstein expressed the hope that other universities in Ohio would emulate Shriver’s “concern for the Jewish community.”
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