Alpha Epsilon Pi, commonly referred to as AEPi, sent a warning to its nearly 10,000 undergraduate members on nearly 200 campuses to be extra careful in light of the anti-Semitic incidents occurring around the country.
Alpha Epsilon Pi Executive Director Andy Borans released a statement in the wake of the anti-Jewish incidents:
“As one of the most visible Jewish institutions on nearly 190 campuses around the world, we must be both vigilant in our efforts to make our houses, brothers and fellow Jews safe and, at the same time, we should take a role in helping to repair the damage done by this hatred.
“Brothers across the world have taken the fraternity’s mission – developing leadership for the Jewish community – to heart. Brothers from Washington University in St. Louis and Drexel University in Philadelphia volunteered to help clean up the Jewish cemeteries which were recently desecrated by anti-Semitic acts. In Florida, AEPi groups, in conjunction with other local groups, have sponsored response training to “active-shooter scenarios” for their campus Jewish community.
“In response to anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled on campus near its house, the AEPi chapter at the University of Nevada – Las Vegas organized a campus-wide rally against anti-Semitism which brought the entire campus together, along with local elected officials and others, in support of the Jewish community. This weekend, dozens of chapters across the world are volunteering at local Purim carnivals on their campuses or in their communities to show support for Jewish institutions and to ensure that, no matter what, Jewish people who wish to come together can do so without fear.
“Issuing press releases with strongly worded condemnations is not enough. We want our brothers to stand up and proactively support our Jewish communities. Truly, the brothers of AEPi are playing a role in healing the world through their actions and deeds, not just their words. For this, I am amazingly proud and eternally in debt to our undergraduate brothers.”
AEPi was founded on November 7, 1913 at NYU by Charles C. Moskowitz, and was expanded in 1917 as a second chapter was founded at Cornell University. Alpha Epsilon Pi is predominantly a Jewish fraternity, however, it is open to students of all religions.
While most frats are national, Alpha Epsilon Pi is a worldwide brotherhood, as it became the first fraternity to have a chapter in Israel, and in 2016, the first fraternity to have a chapter in Australia.
