Eden Prairie High School has a new graduation date — one that will not conflict with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.
The district this week announced that its commencement ceremony, originally planned for June 7, will instead be moved to June 4. The change was made after families expressed concern that the original date fell during Eid al-Adha, a four-day celebration that translates to “festival of sacrifice.”
“We heard from members of our community that our original plan wouldn’t allow all graduates to be included, despite our efforts to ensure everyone could attend,” read a note to families from Superintendent Josh Swanson.
Because Islam uses the lunar calendar, the exact date of Eid al-Adha changes. This year, it falls in early June at a time when schools across Minnesota typically schedule their graduation ceremonies. In the metro area, that’s already a complicated logistical process as districts jockey for time at the venues big enough to hold crowds of cheering families, often booking them a year in advance.
Eden Prairie appears to be the only district that has changed its graduation in response to the holiday, but other districts, including Minneapolis, have ceremonies planned during Eid al-Adha.
Erica Wacker, spokeswoman for St. Paul Public Schools, said it takes a lot of planning to arrange her district’s 16 graduation ceremonies at multiple venues. Roy Wilkins Auditorium is the only St. Paul venue large enough to host graduation for the city’s biggest high schools, she said, and graduation dates need to line up with the last week of school and be held before the last day of school.
“It’s a competitive process as there are many other schools that have their graduation ceremonies at the same venue, and dates need to be reserved almost a year in advance,” she wrote in a statement.
None of St. Paul’s are planned during Eid al-Adha.