University Provost Susan R. Wente launch hate crime investigation, saying symbol is “associated with hate, anti-Semitism, violence, death, & murder.”
Vanderbilt University officials have launched a hate crime investigation after three swastikas were found spray-painted inside a Jewish fraternity house.
The local newspaper, The Tennessean, cited a statement that Provost Susan R. Wente sent to students Monday reporting that the graffiti had been found Saturday after a party at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house.
Wente condemned use of the symbol, which she said is “associated with hate, anti-Semitism, violence, death, and murder.”
She said anyone with information about the swastikas should call Vanderbilt police.
Vanderbilt officials, according to The Tennessean, believe the vandalism took place between 1:55 and 3:22 a.m. Saturday. Vanderbilt police said investigators were still doing interviews and have yet to identify any suspects.
Josh Hyman, the student president of the AEPi chapter at Vanderbilt, said in statement that 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.”
Andrew Borans, the executive director of AEPi International, connected the incident to a “rising tide of anti-Semitism.”
View original Israel Hayom publication at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=24229