In a first-of-its-kind move, the University of California, Berkeley’s Student Senate has approved a Hindu Heritage Month proclamation, making UC Berkeley the first university in the United States to formally recognize the month-long observance.

According to the Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA), the proclamation also acknowledges the “rise of Hinduphobia” and cites a “string of attacks” on Hindu temples over the past two years as an important context for the resolution.

“It is a sign of the times that a seemingly simple move like this required a year of perseverance, advocacy and negotiation from the on-campus Hindu Student organizations that fought for it. -CoHNA Youth Action Network (CYAN) and Hindu Yuva,” CoHNA said in a statement.

The organization noted that a similar proclamation was rejected by the same student body in spring 2025, despite its approval of multiple other resolutions recognizing the histories and struggles of various religious and ethnic communities. Those included:

• Jewish Heritage Month, passed 04-30-2025
• Condemning Anti-Jewish Hate, passed 03-12-2025
• Affirming the Associated Students University of California (ASUC) Recognition of the 1984 Sikh Genocide and Continued Anti-Sikh Rhetoric and Violence, passed 04-23-2025
• A Resolution in Recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, passed 04-23-2025
• Implementing Anti-Islamophobia Training in the Senate Learning Institute, passed 04-30-2025
• Condemning Actions of Antisemitism on 4/18/25, passed 04-30-2025

“The rejection followed the familiar use of tired tropes and labels like ‘Hindu Nationalism’ to shut down a very American ask, one that came from American Hindu students, concerned about American issues and asking for support in approved American University format,” CoHNA’s statement added. “We congratulate the dedicated Hindu students at UC Berkeley who refused to be silenced… and the higher standards that Hindu youth on campus are held to vs other groups.”

A separate statement from the UC Berkeley Hindu student community said that the passage comes nine months after the ASUC Senate initially voted down the earlier version of the proclamation. Students credited the new measure to extensive discussions and meetings between the Executive Vice President’s Office and student leaders from CYAN and Hindu YUVA.

“While the new proclamation is by no means perfect, we believe that it signals a positive step in improving Hindu representation within student government,” the students said. “We would like to thank the EVP and her office for engaging in respectful dialogue with our student organizations over the past six months, showing that conversations are possible despite even the most contentious of disagreements.”

The revised proclamation includes several key recognitions:

• The ASUC Senate formally recognizes the term Hinduphobia and acknowledges multiple targeted attacks on Hindu temples in the Bay Area.
• The Senate acknowledges Sanatana Dharma and its foundations as a decolonial understanding of the Persian exonym commonly known in the West as “Hinduism.”
• The Senate notes the absence of a Hindu caucus dedicated to representing Hindu students and their interests, in contrast to similar informal groups for other religious communities on campus.

The student statement expressed hope that the proclamation will mark the beginning of “genuine, good-faith dialogue” between Hindu student groups and ASUC leadership. It also highlighted longstanding concerns about the “conflation” of Hindu and South Asian identity, which students said has often resulted in gatekeeping by broader South Asian organizations.

“Their statements and actions on issues affecting our community (i.e. Pahalgam) have overshadowed the lived experiences of Hindu students, often made without engaging our communities directly,” the statement said. “It is our sincere hope that, moving forward, discussions surrounding Hindu identity and representation will be guided not by external political narratives, but by the voices of Hindu students on campus.”

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