Swastikas spray-painted outside Emory's two fraternity houses have put the entire campus under stress and strain.
The first set of swastikas and other offensive graffiti was discovered outside of Alpha Epsilon Pi house on Sunday morning. The vandalism and hateful graffiti incident occurred just hours after Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days in Judaism, came to an end.
Another set of new swastikas was noticed by AEPi on a stone wall outside of the Kappa Alpha chapter house Monday. A university representative said that it's uncertain whether the graffiti was recently made, Huffington Post reports.
The university's president expressed his disappointment and disgust for the act.
"Among the many pernicious things the swastika symbolizes, in the last century it represented the most egregious and determined undermining of intellectual freedom and truth-seeking," Emory President Jim Wagner said in a statement. "In short, its appearance on our campus is an attack against everything for which Emory stands."
Wagner said that as a precautionary measure the authorities have "increased patrols to the area,"
Members of the Jewish fraternity were upset with the vandalism because most brothers are related to Holocaust survivors.
"The prejudiced individuals who conducted this outrageous offense succeeded in the intentions of making us feel unwelcomed, ostracized, and unsafe in this "home" we call Emory University. This egregious act has not only impacted our fraternity brothers but there is no doubt that it has also distressed and frightened the entire Emory community," the brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi said, Buzzfeed reports.
The Jewish fraternity called on the University to stop the growth of anti-Semitism actions and punish perpetrators of such acts of inhumanity.
AEPi Executive Director Andrew Borans said that the vandalism at Emory's chapter is not unique and isolated incident on North America colleges.
"The rising tide of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity on college campuses is widespread and must be stopped. Universities are a place for the free and open exchange of ideas and Jewish students should not be made to feel unsafe in their homes on campuses," Borans said.
