Today@Dal

Each year the Dalhousie Office of Human Rights, Equity & Harassment Prevention (HREHP) develops a mosaic calendar of religious holidays and cultural dates for faculty, staff and students. See below for a sample of May dates to observe, reflect, celebrate or promote throughout the university community. The complete calendar is available on our website.

All Jewish and Islamic Holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the first date shown.

May 1 – 31st
Asian Heritage Month
May is Asian Heritage Month. This acknowledges the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to Canada. It also provides an opportunity for Canadians across the country to reflect on and celebrate the contributions of Asian Canadians to the growth and prosperity of Canada.
Asian Heritage Month has been celebrated in the United States since 1979. Over the past decade, many Asians in Canada have begun to celebrate their heritage during the month of May. In December 2001, the Senate adopted a motion proposed by Senator Vivienne Poy to officially designate May as Asian Heritage Month in Canada.

MAY 5
Cinco De Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish)
Cinco De Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) is primarily a regional, and not a federal, holiday in Mexico; the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. It commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. This day came to represent a symbol of Mexican unity and patriotism.

Visakha Puja- Buddha Day (BU)
Traditionally, Buddha's Birthday is known as Vesak or Visakah Puja (Buddha's Birthday Celebrations). Vesak is the major Buddhist festival of the year as it celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha on the one day, the first full moon day in May, except in a leap year when the festival is held in June. This celebration is called Vesak being the name of the month in the Indian calendar.

May 6th
Lag baOmer- Jewish
La'omer (Sephardi) is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer which is on the 18th of the Hebrew month of Iyar. This day marks the hillula (celebration, interpreted by some as anniversary of death) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, aMishnaic sage and leading disciple of Rabbi Akiva in the 2nd century, and the day on which he revealed the deepest secrets of kabbalah in the form of the Zohar (Book of Splendor), a landmark text of Jewish mysticism.

May 8
World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day
World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is an annual celebration of the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. World Red Cross Red Crescent Day is celebrated on 8 May each year.[1] This date is the anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant (born 8 May 1828), the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize.

MAY 9
Donald Marshall Jr. - wrongful conviction overturned (1983) (AB)
Donald Marshall, Jr. is a Mi’kmaq man who was wrongly convicted of murder. The case inspired a number of disturbing questions about the fairness of the Canadian justice system, especially given that Marshall was an Aboriginal; as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation put it, “The name Donald Marshall is almost synonymous with ’wrongful conviction’ and the fight for native justice in Canada.”

MAY 10
Mother's Day
Mother's Day is celebrated all over the world to honor our Mothers, although the dates and months of Mother's Day differ from country to country. Mother's day is the occasion to pay rich tributes to one of those persons who have had a great impact on our lives, a person whose love and care knows no boundaries, a person who does everything to keep her children happy an joyous.