Stephen Silver
On three occasions in recent months, intruders have either vandalized or gone onto the roof of a house near Temple University’s campus inhabited by members of Temple’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a historically Jewish fraternity.
The first incident in May entailed the spray-painting of the phrase “Free Palestine” on the rowhome roof. Newly installed security cameras caught multiple suspects on the house’s roof later in May; one of the participants was heard mentioning swastikas.
A July 27 incident once again saw individuals caught on video on the roof, including one appearing to urinate on a door below. In that incident, police were called.
It’s unclear if the same people were involved in the three incidents.
Since May, members of the area’s Jewish community, the Temple community and AEPi’s national organization have expressed frustration about what they see as Temple’s lack of progress and urgency in responding to the incidents. All of these followed the January announcement that the federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights had opened an investigation into alleged harassment of Jewish students at Temple following protests after Oct. 7.
On Aug. 2, Temple President Richard M. Englert and Provost Gregory N. Mandel issued an announcement, titled “Recent Off-Campus Incidents,” that was addressed “to the Temple community.”
“As you may be aware, in May, two incidents involving trespass and vandalism occurred at an off-campus row home that houses several Temple student members of AEPi, a national fraternity. AEPi identifies as a Jewish fraternity, and there was evidence the incidents were motivated by antisemitism,” the letter said.
The letter stated that “Temple University Police responded promptly, gathered evidence, pursued investigations and collaborated with the Philadelphia Police Department,” following the first two incidents. It added that following the third incident, campus police are “actively investigating these incidents as both a criminal and student disciplinary matter,” adding that any students found involved in the incidents would be subject to student discipline and potential criminal charges.
Among those speaking up has been Brian Hart, a local public relations professional and 2012 Temple alum. Hart has posted frequently on X, the former Twitter, about the AEPi incidents, including security videos that he obtained. However, he said that he is not acting as a fraternity representative.
According to the videos Hart posted, the second incident shows the trespassers walking right up to the spot where the vandalism had taken place weeks earlier. One of them can be heard stating, “Can we do another one?” The female in the group can be heard talking about swastikas, stating, “It’s not a hate crime.”
“It is inexcusable that Temple University received that video in late May, over two months ago, and did not even bother to interrogate these people,” Hart said. “Especially since they told the media, they told the fraternity, they told everybody they were investigating. Now the fraternity comes with this video, which gives them a bombshell lead that probably nobody was expecting. These people quite possibly admit on video that they had something to do with the first one, and Temple University does nothing with it.”
Hart, who is not Jewish, has not accused the university’s leadership of antisemitic motives but has been highly critical of its performance in this and other recent situations.
“I know what PR spin looks like because of my profession,” Hart said. “I can see it from a mile away.”
Hart has criticized Temple for its response to the AEPi incidents. He noted that one potential factor in the slow response may be that Temple’s police department is at “very very low” capacity, which the local media previously noted.
“I like Temple University’s tone in today’s statement,” Hart said on X in response to the Temple statement. “The problem is their actions over the past three months do not align with the tone and characterizations laid out in this statement. Someone needs to take accountability for the failed attempt to sweep this under the rug.”
Temple University Police did not respond to multiple emails requesting comment.
AEPi’s international organization also responded to the incidents.
“Alpha Epsilon Pi International is deeply concerned about yet another act of violence designed to make Jewish students at Temple University feel unsafe and we are working with our students to pursue every possible strategy to properly deal with the perpetrators,” Jon Pierce, a past international president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, said in a statement prior to the letter from Temple’s leaders.
“As disturbing as these repeated incidents are, we are more worried that it appears that Temple University and local law enforcement are doing little to ensure the safety of Jewish students. Allowing incidents like these to continue will only result in more damage and encourage violence. We call on the administration and law enforcement authorities to step-up their protection of Jewish students and institutions and to take these acts of antisemitism seriously.”
The Temple AEPi chapter only recently became active on campus, although the university does not officially recognize it. The fraternity has 21 members.
The chapter was removed in April 2018 after its then-president, Ari Goldstein, was accused of sexually assaulting a female student. Goldstein was convicted in 2020 of attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted sexual assault and indecent assault, and sentenced to prison. None of the current members, however, were on campus at the time of Goldstein’s crimes.
Stephen Silver is a Broomall-based freelance writer.