A Jewish fraternity at Vanderbilt University has been the target of apparent anti-Semitic vandalism. The Vanderbilt Hustler reports:
Early Saturday morning, two swastikas were spray-painted in the elevator of the Tau Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house, and another swastika was painted on a basement door, according to an e-mail from Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Susan Wente.
Wente e-mailed the student body Monday afternoon to alert students to the incident and inform students that the Vanderbilt University Police Department, with the assistance from the Dean of Students Office, is currently investigating the hate crime.
“We understand the anguish and pain that this hateful symbol causes and we stand together to condemn any effort to intimidate or send an unwelcoming message to the Jewish members of the Vanderbilt community,” Wente said.
Wente e-mailed the student body Monday afternoon to alert students to the incident and inform students that the Vanderbilt University Police Department, with the assistance from the Dean of Students Office, is currently investigating the hate crime.
“We understand the anguish and pain that this hateful symbol causes and we stand together to condemn any effort to intimidate or send an unwelcoming message to the Jewish members of the Vanderbilt community,” Wente said.
This is not the first incidence of possible anti-Semitism at the Nashville university in recent years. In 2005, a Sigma Chi fraternity member placed a pig’s head on a spike in front of the campus Jewish life center during the high holidays. The student claimed the prank was directed at the center’s vegetarian cafe.
