ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia homecoming concert is scheduled on a Jewish holiday this year, sparking concern from Jewish students that they're being left out of this year's popular annual event.
UGA announced its fall concert on Monday and said the rock band, Needtobreathe, will be headlining the concert that is set to take place on Yom Kippur.
"It's upsetting that they don’t take into account that there's going to be a large number of students that can't attend," said Delaney Fox, a junior Jewish student at UGA.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish faith and that Fox says she has services to attend that will keep her from being able to attend the concert.
"It's an important day and I personally wouldn't want to be distracted with anything else on that day," said Fox.
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It's not the first time a homecoming event has fallen on Yom Kippur.
In 2014, the university scheduled its homecoming football game on the holiday. More than 2,000 signed a petition then that called for leaders to be more aware of their religious holidays. School officials vowed to avoid those kinds of conflicts in the future.
In response to the concert scheduling, the University released a statement that reads:
"Anticipating high interest from students and the community, Union and Homecoming determined that Stegeman Coliseum was the most appropriate venue to host the concert. The only date Stegeman was available was October 11, 2016, which conflicts with Yom Kippur. Some students who observe Yom Kippur may be conflicted in that they are not able to attend the concert. Representatives from University Union and UGA Homecoming are in correspondence with Jewish student organizations such as Hillel at UGA and Chabad at UGA to explain the logistics that required that date to be selected, and to explore ways in which a recording of the concert could be made available."
Jewish students also say they hope the band does not promote any one religion since the band has Christian rock roots.
Fox says she plans to meet with the Dean of Students on Thursday, but she is not expecting the university to be able to change its concert date so close to the event.
"I was really disappointed in the school," said Fox. "I thought they would have made a change after multiple years in the past."
Cox Media Group
