Celebrate Diversity emails share events and resources related to recognition days, heritage months, and spiritual seasonal observances in celebration of Emerson’s diverse and unique community. Content is crafted by staff partnering across Community, Culture, & Belonging, Marketing & Communications, Academic Affairs, and Campus Life.
Our first email of the 2025-2026 academic year notes many meaningful religious, spiritual, and faith-based traditions that are observed and celebrated during the fall.
MULTIFAITH OBSERVANCE RESOURCES
Please consider adding the Multifaith Observance Google Calendar to your personal account. It displays information on important religious and spiritual dates, as well as restrictions to note when planning campus events, course deadlines, meetings, or programs. This resource collaboration from Community, Culture, & Belonging and the Center of Spiritual Life is based on resources from Harvard Divinity School. Please remember that our Religious Observance Policy exists so that holidays can be recognized wholly by members of our community.
SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER
During fall, many important times of worship, celebration, and observance are held among many faiths, cultures, and traditions. We encourage you to learn more below, and consider what personal or community practices you might want to engage with during this season of change.
Mawlid-an-Nabi: September 5
A Muslim celebration of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad withfestivals, prayer services, recitations of poetry and litanies, as well as religious gatherings.- Learn More: The Pluralism Project, Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad: Mawlid al-Nabi
Autumn Equinox (Mabon): September 22
During the autumnal equinox, when the sun crosses the celestial equator and day and night are nearly equal in length, Pagans observe Mabon with a focus on gratitude, balance, and preparation for winter.- Learn More: The Busy Pagan: The Origins of Mabon.
Rosh Hashanah
Evening of September 22 – September 24
The Jewish New Year is a celebration of feasts, candle lighting, and blowing the Shofar. It begins the ten days of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur.- Learn More: Rosh Hashanah 101.
Navratri & Dussehra
September 22 – October 2
Navratri is a nine-night Hindu festival honoring the divine feminine, with unique traditions across regions and cultures. It culminates in Dussehra, also known as Vijayadashmi, celebrating the victory of good over evil.- Learn More: Navratri and Dussehra.
Yom Kippur
Evening of October 1 – October 2
The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, is the holiest day of the year, observed with 25 hours of fasting and prayer.- Learn More: Yom Kippur 101.
Mid-Autumn Festival
October 6
Also known as the Moon or Mooncake Festival, this major holiday in China is widely celebrated across East and Southeast Asia, particularly among Buddhist and Taoist communities.- Explore local events:
- Boston Chinatown Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival September 13.
- Los Angeles Chinatown community events.
Sukkot
Evening of October 6 – October 13
Named after the temporary huts (sukkot) the Israelites lived in during their 40 years in the desert, Sukkot is one of the three major pilgrimage festivals in the Jewish calendar.- Learn More: Sukkot 101.
Diwali
October 20
This Festival of Lights, Diwali, is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains with food, music, and lights.- Learn More: Ten Fabulous Facts About Diwali!
Birth of the Báb & Birth of Bahá’u’lláh
October 22 and October 23
These twin holy days mark the births of the Báb (the Gate) and Bahá’u’lláh (the Glory of God), the two central figures of the Bahá’í faith.- Learn More: The Birth of the Báb and The Birth of Baháʼu’lláh.
Samhain
October 31 – November 1
A Pagan festival in the ancient Celtic tradition, Samhain marks the end of the harvest season, when the boundary between the physical and spirit worlds was believed to grow thin, allowing spirits to walk the Earth.- Learn More: Everything You Need to Know About Samhain.
All Saints’ Day & All Souls’ Day: November 1 and November 2
All Saints’ Day, a Christian observance, is celebrated on November 1 in the Western Church and on the Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern Church, honoring all saints, both canonized and unrecognized. All Souls’ Day, observed the following day in the West, focuses on remembering all the departed.- Learn More: All Saints Day & All Souls Day.