Baruch College Changes Commencement Time To Accommodate Jewish Students Observing Sabbath

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Baruch College announced Friday it will adjust the start time of its May 2016 commencement following complaints that the graduation schedule disregarded Jewish students and families who observe Sabbath.

Commencement was originally planned for 5 p.m. on a Friday, but the college worked with Barclay's Center to to adjust the start time to 4 p.m.

"Baruch College is committed to our entire diverse student body. With 170 countries and many ethnicities and religions represented, we work hard to ensure that our students receive a culturally sensitive and quality education. We are pleased that, with these revised space accommodations, we are able to be more responsive to the Sabbath constraints for both our Jewish and Muslim students," Dr. Mitchel Wallerstein, president of Baruch College, said in a statement.

Wallerstein previously said he did originally take Jewish concerns into account and that the sun goes down at 8:19 p.m., leaving the audience a full hour and 20 minutes to get home before sundown.

However, students and officials petitioned the 5 p.m. start time, saying it did not leave adequate time for Sabbath.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind said Thursday that the timetable was too rushed for observant Jews, who need time to prepare for Sabbath celebrations.

"They don't have to look at their watch every two seconds saying, 'Do I still have time to stay here? Do I have to get out and rush?' Traffic and everything else that's involved," Hikind told CBS2 in a phone interview.

The college said Barclay's Center is the only indoor facility in the city of New York that can offer space capable of accommodating a crowd of more than 15,000 people for commencement.