Two students charged with hate crime after pork tossed into Jewish fraternity

Two Syracuse University students face charges after allegedly hurling pork into Zeta Beta Tau during a Rosh Hashanah gathering.

Grace Gilson, JTA

Published September 25, 2025

The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house at Syracuse University. (Google Street View)

Two Syracuse University students face hate crime charges for allegedly throwing pork into a Jewish fraternity house on Rosh Hashanah.

At around 6 p.m. Tuesday, members of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity were gathered for the holiday when one student, not affiliated with the fraternity, allegedly entered the house and threw a bag of pork at an interior wall, according to university police.

The student, identified as Samuel Patten, 18, of Brooklyn, fled the home in a vehicle driven by another student, Kyle Anderson, 18, of Greenwich, Connecticut. Both were later captured and charged with burglary as a hate crime and criminal nuisance.

University and legal response

“This incident is abhorrent, shocking to the conscience and violates our core value of being a place that is truly welcoming to all. It will not be tolerated at Syracuse University,” wrote Allen Groves, the university’s chief student experience officer.

Groves said both students were referred to the Office of Community Standards for possible disciplinary action.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told the Associated Press that the hate crime charges were applied because the incident targeted Jewish students on a holiday at a historically Jewish fraternity. “This incident is not a foolish college prank… It will be treated for what it is: a crime directed against a group of Jewish students enjoying a celebratory dinner,” he said.

Fraternity reaction

“We are heartbroken and outraged by this hateful crime committed against our fraternity,” Zeta Beta Tau wrote on Instagram. “This was an attack on our home, our values, and our safety, as well as every Jewish student on campus.”

A pattern of antisemitic acts

Syracuse University has about 2,500 Jewish undergraduates, around 16% of its student body, according to Hillel International. The campus has faced antisemitic incidents before, including an anonymous antisemitic email sent to a professor in 2019.

Bacon and other pork products, which are not kosher under Jewish law, have been used in antisemitic attacks elsewhere. In 2020, an upstate New York woman was charged after throwing pork at a synagogue. Earlier this year, an Australian man was arrested for throwing a packet of bacon during an antisemitic hate crime.