Event Date
The Multicultural Calendar serves as a resource for students, staff, and faculty to plan events, activities, meetings, retreats, and courses throughout the year. It is a resource for understanding religious and cultural observances.
Multicultural Calendar - June 2024
Feast of the Sacred Heart
Roman Catholic
Celebrated nineteen days after Pentecost Sunday, this feast day is an occasion to pay homage to Christ's all-encompassing love for humanity. The devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ's physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity.
General Practices: Solemn worship is observed during Mass.
Friday, June 7, 2024 | Friday, June 16, 2023 | Friday, June 27, 2025
St. Columba of Iona
Celtic Christian
Recognition of Columba, who began the famous community of Iona off the coast of Scotland in 563 CE.
Sunday, June 9, 2024 | Friday, June 9, 2023 | Monday, June 9, 2025
Martyrdom of Guru Arjan
Sikh
Time of remembering those who have suffered for the faith. Guru Arjan Dev Ji was tortured and sentenced to death after refusing to stop preaching his message.
General Practices: Observed by reading the Guru Granth Sahib.
Monday, June 10, 2024 | Tuesday, May 23, 2023 | Friday, May 30, 2025
Shavuot
Jewish
Recommended Accommodations: Avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, and activities. Provide food accommodations (kosher restrictions apply‚ although it is customary to eat dairy).
Commemorates receipt of the Torah on Mount Sinai and is two of three pilgrimage festivals.
Recommended Accommodation: Significant. Evening of devotional programs and studying the Torah, lighting of Yahrzeit memorial candle at sundown on the second night of Shavuot.
June 11, 2024 - June 13, 2024 | Thursday, May 25, 2023 | June 1, 2025 - June 3, 2025
Day of Arafat in Hajj
Islam
Muslims perform the annual pilgrimage, Hajj, to Mecca. The pilgrimage is one of the five Pillars of Islam. All Muslims are expected to perform the Hajj at least once in their lifetime. The Day of Arafat is the ninth day of Dhul-Hijja of the Islamic lunar calendar and falls on the second day of pilgrimage rituals.
General Practices: Begins at sundown on the first day.
June 15, 2024 - June 16, 2024 | Tuesday, June 27, 2023 | June 5, 2025 - June 6, 2025
Eid al-Adha
Islam
Recommended Accommodation: Avoid scheduling important academic deadlines, events, and activities. If planning an evening event, provide food accommodations (halal dietary restrictions apply).
Eid al-Adha is a major festival that celebrates the willingness to make sacrifices in the name of one’s faith. According to legend, the prophet Ibrahim was ordered to sacrifice his son in God’s name. When Ibrahim was prepared to kill his son, God stepped in and gave him a sheep to sacrifice instead. This holiday celebrates Ibrahim’s total faith in God, and Muslims view this holiday as an important annual reminder.
Recommended Accommodation: Significant. Begins at sundown on the first day.
June 16, 2024 - June 17, 2024 | Wednesday, June 28, 2023 | June 6, 2025 - June 7, 2025
Juneteenth
Juneteenth (also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day) is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it is now celebrated annually on June 19 throughout the United States, with increasing official recognition. It is commemorated on the anniversary date of the June 19, 1865, announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger, proclaiming freedom from slavery in Texas.
General Practices: Modern observance is primarily in local celebrations. Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs such as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and reading of works by noted African-American writers such as Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | Monday, June 19, 2023 | Thursday, June 19, 2025
New Church Day
Christian, Swedenborgian
Swedenborgian Christian (Church of the New Jerusalem) annual commemoration of the vision document, "The True Christian Religion," by Emanuel Swedenborg in 1770.
General Practices: Every year on this day, members of the New Church meet to conduct important church business and to commemorate the church's founding.
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | Monday, June 19, 2023 | Thursday, June 19, 2025
Litha / Midsomer / Alban Hefin / Summer Solstice
Pagan, Wiccan, Druid
A celebration of the longest day of the year and the beginning of summer. Celebration of the Goddess manifesting as Mother Earth and the God as the Sun King. For some Pagans, the Summer Solstice marks the marriage of the God and Goddess and see their union as the force that creates the harvest's fruits. One of the eight major annual sabbats or festivals.
General Practices: Lighting bonfires and watching the sun rise.
Monday, June 24, 2024 | Saturday, June 24, 2023 | Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Christian
This is a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of John the Baptist, a prophet who foretold the coming of the Messiah in the person of Jesus and who baptized Jesus.
General Practices: Bonfires, feasting, and hymns. It is customary to gather flowers to make wreaths to wear and to hang in one’s home or on the front door.
Monday, June 24, 2024 | Saturday, June 24, 2023 | Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul
Roman Catholic
A liturgical feast in honor of the martyrdom in Rome of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
The Catholic pope places the pallium (a type of woolen cloak) on archbishops that were appointed over the past year. It serves as a reminder of religious significance of the bishops' work and symbolizes the unity of the church.
Saturday, June 29, 2024 | Thursday, June 29, 2023 | Sunday, June 29, 2025
Maidyoshahem Gahanbar
Zoroastrian
There are six Gahanbars (five-day festivals) spread throughout the year. This "mid-summer feast‚" celebrates the summer solstice.
General Practices: Each Gahanbar is a period to focus on worship, and those celebrating will perform only necessary work.
June 29, 2024 - July 3, 2024 | Thursday, June 29, 2023