UC Berkeley has released an update stating that the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity house may not have been the only house targeted with shellfish over the weekend, though the investigation remains ongoing.
The AEPi chapter posted a statement to social media on Sunday stating that “a group of six individuals” put the shellfish on the front door and then threw it “into the house and onto the front porch, also scattering it around the premises.” “By singling out AEPi, the Jewish fraternity, and deliberately employing non-kosher food, this act of vandalism goes beyond mere destruction; it represents a calculated decision to target Jewish students within the campus community,” they added. Berkeley police told The Jewish News of Northern California (The J) that they are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
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But UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof told the Journal that “new details have emerged that suggest a recent incident at UC Berkeley might not have been targeted specifically at the Jewish fraternity, and that similar vandalism (the deposit of shellfish) may have occurred at multiple fraternities. However, the incident is still under investigation and all details have yet to emerge.” “Regardless of the chain of events, the members of the Jewish fraternity were very understandably upset to see what appeared to be a targeted attack on their Jewish religious and cultural traditions,” Mogoluf continued. “UC Berkeley campus leadership has taken this issue very seriously and has been in regular communication with key stakeholders on campus and at the fraternity about next steps and how best to move forward.”
“To be clear, regardless of the facts as they unfold, we understand that the members of AEPi experienced this as an antisemitic attack and in conversations that have been had with AEPi leaders, that sense of harm was very evident,” he added. “When dealing with the emotional and social fallout from incidents of bias and bigotry, intent can be distinct from impact.”
Dr. Gregg Drinkwater, program director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Jewish Studies’ Antisemitism Education Initiative, similarly told the Journal that “the campus officials engaged with the response on this incident have been made aware that shellfish may also have been dumped at one or more additional fraternity houses” but acknowledged that “the investigation is still ongoing, so we need to respect the process of the police and campus officials.” “Campus leadership is focused here on the impact on AEPi members and the campus community,” Drinkwater added. “Given the current national climate and the disturbing uptick in antisemitism in recent years, when the AEPi members found an expressly non-kosher food littered around their Jewish fraternity house on Shabbat, they experienced it as antisemitism. Campus leadership has been clear on the importance of supporting the needs of those impacted by this incident, regardless of what the final investigation determines around intent.”
The Berkeley AEPi house released an update on August 31 saying that “it has become known that at least one other fraternity was similarly vandalized though not because of antisemitism. While we can’t imagine the rationale for this, we are gratified to know that AEPi may not have been specifically singled out because of our commitment to being Jewish. Ignorance, however, does not excuse antisemitism and this event has contributed to an environment in which Jewish students are concerned for their safety and being discriminated against.”
The AEPi house added that “at least some of the people who perpetrated this act have come forward to our chapter’s leadership and apologized for their actions. We welcome this act of contrition and look forward to working with them and the entire Berkeley community to use this moment as a catalyst for good.” The AEPi house will be hosting an event to raise money for the Anti-Defamation League and AEPi Response Antisemitism Center.
Jadon Gershon-Friedberg, president of the Berkeley AEPi chapter, told The J that one of their members noticed six people coming to the house with a bucket shortly before 1 a.m. on August 26. Gershon-Friedberg also told The J that there were “claws by the side of the house and by the door. We found a fish tail and head in someone’s room. It was absolutely disgusting.”
UPDATE: Berkeley police told The J on Thursday that they have concluded “that a hate crime did not occur” because “multiple fraternities had shellfish dumped in their yards on the early morning of August 26th. We want to reiterate that our department did not take this investigation lightly and confirmed through further investigation that the involved students did, in fact, not target Alpha Epsilon Pi.”
