by Debra Rich Gettleman

This past Shabbat, the first one of the 2023 school year at UC Berkeley, proved to be anything but restful for Jewish Fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi). Instead, it offered a glance into antisemitism on campus.

At about 1am Saturday morning, a group of students were seen in the area carrying buckets according to one member of AEPi. What happened next, is not hard to guess.

The fraternity, with 20 live-in members, and 8 students who keep kosher, was doused with a disgusting array of shellfish. “We go outside, we saw crayfish had been thrown all over our deck, all over the side driveway, through the windows into someone’s room and scattered all around the backyard,” AEPi president, Jadon Gershon-Friedberg, told reporters, “We found claws by the side of the house and by the door. We found a fish tail and head in someone’s room,” he said. “It was absolutely disgusting.”

Gershon-Friedberg called 911 and filed police reports with both the city and campus police deparments. According to the Berkeley Police Department, the incident is “under investigation.”

So, here’s my question: is this a hate crime or a pubescent prank? Here’s how I see it.

1. Shellfish is clearly a food outlawed to Jews through the laws of Kashrut.
2. No other fraternities were targeted
3. This act was directed at Jews to hurt and intimidate them.

Dan Mogulof, UC Berkely spokesperson said in a statement, “The campus administration has a long-standing and unwavering commitment to confronting antisemitism, and its expression, as we do with all forms of bias, discrimination, and hatred,” He added, “An investigation is underway, and we will, as always, ensure there are appropriate consequences if laws, campus policies, and/or the Student Code of Conduct are found to have been violated.”

If laws, campus policies and/or the student code of conduct was violated? Hmmm. This doesn’t seem like a hard one to this journalist. I mean, perhaps there is a stipulation in the Berkeley student code of conduct that allows for students to vandalize a Jewish fraternity by dumping an array of stinky bivalves on, in, and around their home. But I’m hard pressed to believe that.

Like so many college “pranks,” I fear that this one will be swept under the “kids just being kids” rug, thus allowing and even encouraging further acts of antisemitism and hatred against Jewish students and other campus minority groups.

So, Berkeley and Campus police, we’re watching. We’re waiting. And we are hoping that you do the right thing here.