About half the class turns up for history seminar on quiet York campus closed for Rosh Hashanah
A York University professor has defied a 34-year campus ban on classes during Jewish high holidays by holding a history class yesterday on the almost empty campus.
Jewish professor David Noble, who is fighting what he calls the discriminatory practice before the Ontario Human Rights Commission, held a three-hour seminar on the second day that classes were cancelled for Rosh Hashanah – and about 15 of his 30 students attended, including at least one Jewish student."I don't find it wrong to have a class on a Jewish holiday, because attendance isn't necessary to pass this course," said Danielle Ben, a fourth-year student who took Tuesday off to celebrate the Jewish New Year with her family but was back on campus yesterday.
"A professor should be allowed to keep the class running as long as you're not penalized if you don't go."
But Noble's class found itself locked out of its usual seminar room yesterday, even though Noble delivered a written request last Thursday to both the dean of arts and the university president, asking that the classroom be unlocked for his class.
Noble, who says he did not receive a response from either official, posted a note yesterday on the classroom door stating: "Locked out by President (Mamdouh) Shoukri – we have been forced to meet in Room 716," a lounge he had lined up as a fallback.
"As a Jew, I'm concerned about anti-Semitism," said Noble. "And this practice (of cancelling classes), which is discriminatory because it privileges Jews, fosters resentment among the 95 per cent of the student body that is not Jewish. That resentment can become anti-Semitism, and the practice has to end."
Meanwhile, the Ontario Human Rights Commission is continuing its investigation into Noble's complaint that the long-standing practice shows religious favouritism.
"It's that whole equality thing – when it comes to cancelling classes for religious holidays, I think it should be all or nothing, or it's not fair," said Akshaya Ashley Iyer, a fourth-year sociology major who went to Noble's class yesterday.
Vanessa Butterworth said she also went to the class because university is "a secular institution, so religious holidays should be optional. My mother works at a hospital and if she were Jewish, she would have no choice but to go to work, so I don't know why this is different."
Shaun Holmes, a criminology major, said he went to the class because he agrees with Noble's stand "and because I've never had a prof who would go out of his way for his beliefs like this.
"Besides, I pay a lot to come to school, so the more classes, the better."
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