Community Message From Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

I write to inform you of a deeply troubling incident that happened in our community tonight. At approximately 6 p.m., brothers of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity were gathered in their chapter house to celebrate the first night of Rosh Hashanah when a student, who is not part of the fraternity, reportedly entered the fraternity house and threw meat, believed to be pork, on the floor while fraternity members were eating a dinner to celebrate this important religious holiday for the Jewish community. The student then fled in a car driven by a second student. Both were quickly apprehended by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and taken into custody by the Syracuse Police Department (SPD). I am grateful to DPS for their swift action and to SPD for their partnership in helping us keep our community safe.

A decision on specific criminal charges will be made by local authorities in the coming days, including whether to charge it as an antisemitic hate crime. In addition, the students involved have been referred to Community Standards pursuant to our Student Conduct Code, and pending the outcome of an investigation, will face appropriate disciplinary action through our established procedures.

Tonight’s incident as reported to us is abhorrent, shocking to the conscience and violates our core value of being a place that is truly welcoming to all. It will not be tolerated at Syracuse University.

Sincerely,

Allen Groves
Chief Student Experience Officer