In a message at the beginning of the 2025 fall semester, the University of Wisconsin urged students to review their class schedule and “note with your instructors any need for academic flexibility due to religious or cultural observances.”
The note added that relief from an exam or assignment should be requested within the first two weeks of classes.
The university and other state schools have a religious observance policy as mandated by state statute. The UW policy states: “A student’s claim of a religious conflict, which may include travel time, should be accepted at face value. A great variety of valid claims exist for religious groups, and there is no practical, dignified, and legal means to assess the validity of individual claims.”
The UW has a lengthy calendar of religious observances from many religions that are observed by UW students.
There are 63 religious organizations registered and active on the UW-Madison campus including a number of well-known evangelical campus ministries such as InterVarsity, Cru, and Navigators as well as groups connected to a local church such as Blackhawk.