H eadlines
Penn Commencement on Shavuot Sparks Petition
L OCA L
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
NEARLY 1,600 PEOPLE
signed a petition urging the
University of Pennsylvania to
change the date of commence-
ment for the class of 2021.

Set for May 17, the ceremony
falls in the middle of Shavuot.

Observant Jewish students
would have to forgo the
in-person commencement
ceremony — the only in-person
commencement event for the
class of 2021 — and are similarly
precluded from watching the
livestream, as observance of the
holiday requires one to refrain
from the use of technology.

Should Penn refuse to
change the date, according to
the March 24 petition, it “will
force graduating students who
practice Orthodox Judaism
to choose between attending
sacred religious festivities and
attending their once-in-a-life-
time college commencement
ceremony.” About 17% of undergraduates
at Penn are Jewish, according to
Hillel International estimates.

University spokesperson
Stephen MacCarthy responded
to a request for comment by
forwarding an email sent by the
Office of the Chaplain to around
40 students. Those students were
identified by Yoni Gutenmacher,
a senior from Queens, New York,
and a leader in the campus’
Orthodox community; the office
asked him to identify students
who would be likely to find
commencement in conflict with
Shavuot. The letter to those
students noted that “we consulted
extensively with our colleagues
in Penn Hillel as well as student
leaders beginning in 2018 when
Abby Stein, Eva Spier, Simcha Stadlan and Yoni Gutenmacher, at a Penn Hillel event in December 2019. Stadlan
and Gutenmacher are part of the student-led effort to change the date of commencement.

Courtesy of Yoni Gutenmacher
EN J OY
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