Swastikas painted in Jewish fraternity at Vanderbilt

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.

"But we know that these symbols of hate do not represent the attitudes of our fellow Vanderbilt students," he said in a statement.

Andrew Borans, the executive director of AEPi International, connected the incident to a "rising tide of anti-Semitism."

He wrote that the upward trend "is very real and is undoubtedly connected to organized and concerted anti-Israel activities on college campuses."

Allegations of anti-Semitism have been climbing at colleges across the country, according to a report released last month by Trinity College in Connecticut. More than half of Jewish college students surveyed in the report said they had witnessed or fallen victim to anti-Semitism on their campuses.

AEPi hired security consultants last fall to address a rising number of safety concerns for the fraternity's chapters nationwide, according to spokesman Jonathan Pierce, who is a Vanderbilt alum and former member of the school's AEPi chapter. Consultants have been dispatched to Nashville to help students here.

Vanderbilt officials believe the vandalism took place between 1:55 and 3:22 a.m. Saturday. Assistant Chief Honey Pike with Vanderbilt police said investigators are still doing interviews and have yet to identify any suspects.

"Regardless of who is responsible and what the motivation was, the university condemns the reprehensible depiction of this symbol that since the time of Nazi Germany has come to be associated with hate, anti-Semitism, violence, death, and murder," Provost Susan R. Wente wrote in an email to students Monday.

In a series of statements released Tuesday, Jewish groups praised Vanderbilt administrators for their speedy response to the incident, while pledging to fight against intolerance.

"A miserable window to hate was opened last Saturday," said Rabbi Shlomo Rothstein of the Chabad Student Center at Vanderbilt. "Chabad at Vanderbilt University condemns this hate crime and calls for the expulsion of the perpetrator(s) of this deplorable act."

Hyman said: "We are resolved not to let these actions define us as Vanderbilt students or as Jews. We are going to work harder to build bridges throughout the Vanderbilt campus to fight anti-Semitism and hate of all kinds."

Authorities urged anyone with information on the crime to contact Vanderbilt police at 615-322-2745.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and on Twitter @tamburintweets.