York University in Toronto, one of Canada’s largest universities, will hold classes on the Jewish holidays, changing its policy that began in 1974.

University officials said the move is unrelated to a complaint lodged by a York professor that the practice of canceling classes on the Jewish holidays was unfair to non-Jewish students.

York was long believed to be the only public university in North America that suspended lectures for two days on Rosh Hashanah and one day on Yom Kippur.

The site of several anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents, York said the new policy is aimed at helping incoming students adjust to a heavier workload.

— jta