Rachel Hale, The Forward
Published February 23, 2022
This story was originally published on Feb. 22 by the Forward. Sign up here to get the latest stories from the Forward delivered to you each morning.
Indiana University students and organizations are pushing for administrators and Greek life leaders to take action against antisemitism following online posts that targeted members of Jewish Greek life.
The comments were posted on Feb. 20 by an anonymous user on Greek Rank, a popular online forum where users can rank and post about different sororities and fraternities. One of the comments specifically targeted Jewish fraternities Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Alpha Mu and Alpha Epsilon Pi.
“Get em off our campus you disgusting smelly rapist greedbag slimeballs we all hate you. F the Jews. F Sammy. And especially F YOU AEPI. GET THEM BECK [sic] IN THE GAS CHAMBERS WHERE THEY ALL BELONG,” the user posted.\
Posting under the name “the truth,” the user’s comments have since been deleted from the website, but screenshots were posted on publication The Tab’s Instagram and on Jewish on Campus’s Twitter.
“As a community we need to come together and be aware of everything that these kids are about. Money, greed, and sexually assualting [sic] women. The truth is that their huge noses, afros, and smelliness prevent them from being attractive so they rape and justify it with their Sick way of looking at the world,” another comment from the user read. “Their families are in positions of power therefore they get away with everything and are not scared. And then ofc our women go to them to take their alcohol and that’s when the Jews capitalize on their victims. IU women you need to stay where you belong, with the people you belong with, for your own safety. These are dangerous humans.”
Rahul Shrivastav, the university provost, addressed the incident in an email and said university officials were in contact with IU’s Hillel and Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association, according to The Indiana Daily Student. A police investigation to determine the user who posted the comments is underway.
“This attempt to anonymously spread hate is cowardly, horrific and simply unacceptable in the IU community,” Shrivastav said in the letter. “The person or people who made these posts who can be identified will be held accountable.”
University Jewish organizations, including Hillel, Hoosiers for Israel and Chabad, were quick to condemn the comments in statements on Instagram.
Some called on the university’s Greek life groups to address Greek life’s issues with antisemitism, while others urged administrators to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. Last night organizations went to Jewish-affilaited Greek houses to put up mezuzahs, and some members of the community wore yarmulkes to class as a sign of solidarity.
“Our university, and our community must be with a single voice to condemn this hatred by recognizing the Jewish community’s established definition of antisemitism, as written by the IHRA, and condemning it. Our campus must make it clear that this hate has no place at IU,” Chabad’s statement read.
Jewish and non-Jewish Greek life organizations took to Instagram to address the incident, including Zeta Beta Tau, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Tau Epsilon Phi, Alpha Kappa Lambda, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Sigma Delta Tau, Delta Phi Epsilon and Alpha Sigma Alpha.
The comments on Greek Rank were similar to one the university condemned in 2018 on the forum that said Jews were taking over Indiana’s campus.
“OMG so first of all I don’t want to sound racist or anything.. but like wtf why are there so many jews here at IU now wat happened?” the post said. “where being takin over by a bunch of hairy stink rude obnoxious jews… the girls acts so damn exclusive and if ur not jewish u can’t hang out with them or even talk to them.. they give us looks like were below them and not worthy of talking too…this must end or this school is gonna go to ****!”
Roughly 4,000 Jewish undergraduate students attend Indiana University, comprising about 10 to 12% of the student population, according to IU Hillel. This week’s comments follow a rise in antisemitic incidents at the university that prompted students to form a new task force to combat antisemitism last fall. Jewish institutions alerted university President Pamela Whitten in October about the spike in incidents, which included vandalization of Hillel and Chabad and over a dozen reports of religious symbols and mezuzahs stolen from dormitory doors starting during the High Holidays.
