Jewish Fraternity At Syracuse Suspended Over Student Safety Concerns

Image by Anya ulinich

By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 21, 2018

Officials at Syracuse University in upstate New York suspended the school’s chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, citing an unspecified threat to student safety, Syracuse’s student newspaper reported.

“As soon as we were made aware of conduct that threatened the safety of a student participating in the new member process, we took immediate action to halt fraternity activities at Alpha Epsilon Pi,” Sarah Scalese, a spokesperson for the university, told the Daily Orange.

AEPi is a Jewish fraternity with chapters in colleges across the United States. AEPi’s national office is defending the Syracuse chapter, saying that the misconduct was on the part of an individual student.

“Syracuse administrators have taken this unilateral action with little regard to the facts of the case or the possible impacts on many innocent students,” Jonathan Pierce, a spokesperson for the national office, told the Daily Orange.

The Forward reported last summer that two top officers of the national fraternity had resigned over a lack of financial transparency.

At Syracuse University, all three national Jewish fraternities are currently in disciplinary trouble. According to the Daily Orange, the local chapter of Zeta Beta Tau is “on disciplinary reprimand,” while the local chapter Sigma Alpha Mu is under investigation for hazing.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

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