The Montclair State University Student Government Association passed a resolution Oct. 19 calling for the school to be closed on Yom Kippur beginning in 2006.

The proposal, brought to the student government by the school’s Hillel organization, has been presented to the administration and will be heard in the university senate.

The resolution was good news to Jewish students and faculty, who have expressed concern in the past that the campus administration was indifferent and even hostile to Jewish interests.

In reaction to the resolution’s passage, Hillel adviser Jaime Grinberg said, “I was surprised. But then, the students are much better than the faculty. They’re open and idealistic. I applaud them. I wasn’t sure how the politics would work, but this demonstrates the campus is really open and inclusive.”

One year ago, the college held a discussion on tolerance attended by between 35 and 50 students as officials investigated an incident in which swastikas and other graffiti were scrawled in a dormitory. At the time, some Jewish faculty members told NJ Jewish News that the climate for Jewish students and faculty at the school had not been positive.

The idea for the Yom Kippur day off was conceived at Hillel’s Rosh Hashana party. “We were having apples and honey in the student center,” recalled Jennifer Solomon, Hillel treasurer and coauthor of the resolution. “The president of the university senate stopped by to celebrate with us. We were trying to figure out why there are not so many Jewish students at Montclair State University. He pointed out that it could be because we do not have Yom Kippur off. Prospective students might look at the academic calendar and decide to go elsewhere.”

According to Hillel International’s Guide to Jewish Life on Campus, Montclair State has 650 Jewish students among its 15,300 undergraduate and graduate students.

Solomon, a junior who also serves on the SGA’s legislative committee, decided to coauthor the resolution with fellow legislator Jeremy Slagle. There was some debate, but the bill ultimately passed “nearly unanimously,” according to SGA executive secretary Stephanie Sattelberger, a junior.

Solomon said she thought all along the bill would pass because it was based on very practical reasoning. As she explained, “Forty percent of the faculty is Jewish, and most of them cancel classes on Yom Kippur. If a non-Jewish student’s class is canceled, they are still technically paying for the class. And if we miss classes on Yom Kippur, we’re excused but we still have to make up the work.” said Solomon.

“Some people thought other religious organizations would ask for their holidays off, too, and then we’d miss more classes,” she added. “But in the end, I think even those people voted in favor of the bill.”

In order to be implemented, according to Grinberg, the bill will have to pass the university senate, which comprises faculty, staff, administration, and student representatives. “It might be more complicated there,” he said. After that, it must pass through “a number of other channels,” including the board of trustees and the administration.

Regardless of the outcome, according to Grinberg, “the symbolic significance of such an event is an incredible development for Montclair State.”

The resolution comes as the university begins to embrace Jewish studies. A Hebrew language curriculum will be offered in the fall of 2006, and a minor in Jewish studies is working its way through the university pipeline.