Jillian Diamond
A Temple University student was suspended following the discovery of an antisemitic sign posted at a nearby sports bar owned by Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, according to a statement the school made on Sunday, May 4.
Portnoy, who is Jewish, exposed the incident to the public in a video he posted on social media the same day. He stated that a customer to his bar, Barstool Sansom Street, ordered bottle service and requested an antisemitic sign reading “F**k the Jews” along with their order.
One of the two perpetrators, who are both currently unidentified, was placed on interim suspension at Temple after the incident went public. An official statement by Temple President John Fry did not go into detail about the event, but it did reaffirm the school’s stance against antisemitism.
“In the strongest terms possible, let me be clear: antisemitism is abhorrent,” Fry wrote. “It has no place at Temple and acts of hatred and discrimination against any person or persons are not tolerated at this university. … Any additional students who are found to be involved will face strict disciplinary action under the Student Conduct Code, up to and including expulsion.”
A statement from Barstool Sansom Street added that the servers who fulfilled the antisemitic order have also been terminated.
“Several employees ignored all of their training and the organization’s written policies regarding our zero tolerance policy for discrimination and hate,” the statement said. “Instead, the employees complied with a customer’s request for a sign in connection with ordering bottle service.”
In his video, Portnoy noted that he had spoken to both students involved in the incident. In a second video, he said that he wanted it to be a “teaching moment” and will be paying for the two students to visit Auschwitz, which he believes to be a fair outcome.
“The more I thought about it, it’s like, these are young f**king morons who did this, drunk,” he said. “It’s like, do you really want to ruin someone’s life?”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pennsylvania and Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia have both issued statements decrying the perpetrators, with the ADL statement noting that the organization is currently investigating the incident.