Rutgers police: Jewish frat targeted with anti-Semitic harassment

Rutgers University Police have been investigating reported harassment of students at a Jewish fraternity, after a couple of incidents reported at the New Brunswick campus.

School officials say the incident involved yet-to-be-identified individuals who appear to have targeted Alpha Epsilon Pi entirely because of the Jewish identity of its members.

People inside several vehicles yelled anti-Semitic remarks, spit in their direction, and threw miscellaneous items, according to police

No one was physically hurt in the encounter, a portion of which appears to have been captured in a video clip posted to Twitter.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office was notified, as RUPD continues to handle the investigation.

“Initial representations regarding the incident are disturbing. We understand and are sensitive to the concerns of those who were targeted, and stand by our Jewish students, faculty and staff,” Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor-Provost Francine Conway said in a written message.

“Harassment based on religious belief, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or for any reason, is antithetical to our values at Rutgers University.”

Additionally, the same frat house reported being egged sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning, as reported by MyCentralJersey.com.

The frat was also egged almost exactly a year earlier while observing Holocaust Remembrance Day, the same report said, citing Rutgers Hillel Interim Executive Director Rabbi Esther Reed.

New Jersey was home to 370 antisemitic incidents in 2021, an all-time high for the state, according to data released Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

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