Dear President Pines,

As students, alumni, and/or parents of Jewish students at the University of Maryland, we wanted to register our disappointment with the school’s announcement that we would no longer be able to hold our daily communal prayer service (minyan). The Hillel related the message that the university had called for the cessation of public gatherings – including prayer. 

The campus, however, is not on lockdown. Graduate classes are meeting in person, campus gyms are open, nonessential services like the bike shop operate, and the Maryland Terrapins are hosting Michigan State for a football game this Saturday.

With this in mind, we were surprised that the Jewish students would be unable to meet for prayer. We have been holding daily services since September with zero virus spread. The limited number of participants always wear masks, stand socially distanced, and, weather permitting, hold the service outdoors.

The ordinances set forth by Prince George County and the State of Maryland indicate that we should still be able to hold our highly regulated service.

Prayer is in a completely different category than other student programming or social gatherings. Why should religious organizations across campus be banned from exercising their basic First Amendment rights while much of the university remains open for business?

We hope that you and the University of Maryland will reinstate full prayer for UMD students.