Swastikas painted in Jewish fraternity at Vanderbilt

[Behind the Aegis]

Source: The Tennessean

Swastikas spray-painted inside one of Vanderbilt University's Jewish fraternity houses drew swift condemnation on and off campus this week, but some Jewish advocates say the crime is indicative of a troubling national trend.

Students discovered the graffiti early Saturday morning after a party at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house on Vanderbilt Place, according to the university. Two swastikas were painted in the elevator, and a third was found on the basement door.

The Vanderbilt University Police Department launched a hate crime investigation in conjunction with the Dean of Students Office.

Josh Hyman, the student president of the AEPi chapter at Vanderbilt, said he and his fraternity brothers were horrified to discover the graffiti.


Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2015/03/17/vanderbilt-hate-crime-jewish-fraternity-swastikas/24887351/

[freshwest]

1. It really is the 1930s again. Will we overcome or succumb?

[candelista]

14. That is ridiculous.

It doesn't begin to approach the 1930s.

[Earth_First]

2. Upon investigation...

...if it's found that a member of another fraternity is responsible, those involved need to be removed from their studies at Vanderbilt and the fraternity needs to be sanctioned from campus.

There's youthful stupididy and then there's illegal hate crime...

It seems there's still a racial/ethnic prejudice that exists within the Greek system at our nation's colleges/universities that needs to be reckoned with.

Remove their ability gather, harbor and incite group think upon other's civil rights...

[Ken Burch]

4. Agreed.

The Greek system really needs to be abolished on all college campuses. All it is is a way for young privileged white "Christians" to subsudize binge-drinking and rape culture, and to get together to lash out at everyone on campus and throughout the world who happen to have committed the horrible crime of being different than them.

[candelista]

15. Obviously it's not just "Christians."

There are Jewish fraternities, which is what the article is about.

[Ken Burch]

17. But the swastika was probably painted by a Christian fraternity.

By the kind of guys who still don't think that Jews have any right to be on "Frat Row", and who will grow up to blackball Jews from entering their country clubs.

[Travelman]

20. No, there's no real evidence of that at all

Vanderbilt is a pretty much completely open campus, and Fraternity Row even more so, all literally within sight of (and a longish walk from) downtown Nashville. Lots and lots of people who have nothing at all to do with Vanderbilt travel through and/or hang out in the Fraternity Row area all the time. Hell, for a long time, I drove through the campus on a regular basis just as a part of my commute.

Any idiot could have wandered into that area pretty much completely undetected and done pretty much anything.

About ten blocks from the Vandy campus is one of the three "big" synagogues in Nashville, and they have had anti-Semitic graffiti and the like there from time to time, as well. I've lived here for almost all of my 43 years, and I remember exactly one time when someone engaging in this sort of abhorrent behavior was a "local," either a student or someone who lives in the immediate area. IIRC, the last time that swastikas turned up at the synagogue, the responsible party was ultimately found to have been some couple from L.A. or Seattle or something like that.


It MIGHT have been some dumbass rich white kid living at a frat house along Vanderbilt Place or Carmichael or somewhere like that, and if it was, it was almost certainly someone who was too damned stupid to recognize that his "prank" was far, FAR more hurtful than he really realized, and such a person doesn't have nearly the hate in his heart that true neo-Nazi believers (or Klan members, or whatever) have. My money, though, is on some outside dickhead who is such a coward that he had to carefully plan some time to come along and engage in some petty, pitiful act of vandalism in an effort to strike fear into the hearts of people that he himself is too scared to confront face-to-face.

[nomorenomore08]

6. +2

[marym625]

9. The privileged.

Makes me sick. And it's just getting worse. All around.

[Number23]

16. "There's youthful stupididy and then there's illegal hate crime..."

You got that right.

[Ken Burch]

3. Sad. And the only way to fight it is to focus on fighting antisemitism in the Diaspora.

As all other forms of hatred have to be fought as well.

[LeftishBrit]

5. Repulsive

If you don't want to mix with others who are of a different group than yours, don't go to university!

[merrily]

7. Fucking neo Nazis.

[brer cat]

8. Appalling and outrageous.

The hatred in this country is very scary.

[marym625]

10. K&R

Just feel like we've gone backward. Social graces seem to no longer include even tolerance for any minority in the US. Be it race, religion, sexuality or gender identification.

[ann---]

11. The results of

this election will bring out more of this. Sympathy for them has all but gone because of Nuttyahoo.

[cali]

12. really? your sympathy may be gone for them, but I've never seen any evidence at

all, within your posts on the subject, that you had any sympathy in this regard. I don't think most people react the way you do. In other words, I think you're projecting here, ann.

You are undoubtedly right that the re-election of Netanyahu will exacerbate anti-semitism, but that doesn't make it any more justifiable. Directing hate at Jews worldwide because of what Israel does, is ugly hateful bigotry. and that should be a no brainer. Do I really have to go into explaining that directing hate at Muslims because of what some do, is hateful bigotry?

[Tom Ripley]

18. Thank you (n/t)

[MrBig]

21. Thank you for this post n/t

[Dr. Strange]

13. Well, that and antisemitism, of course.

[MrBig]

22. Something tells me

the author of the post you responded to doesn't have a strong understanding of anti-Semitism...considering the poster can't differentiate between Israelis and American Jews.

[appalachiablue]

19. The hate, violence & extremism in the US is widening, deepening. Very disturbing. This happened

at a CA univ. not long ago, graffiti, & I recall an incident in NY in the early 2000s, a noose was hung on the door of a Jewish faculty member I think. Unbelievable growing racism & bigotry esp. in rebel south.