Screenshot // Anti-semitic and racist flyers, which included phrases like "Stop the black" and advocating for a "race war," were spotted around Penn's campus in late April.
Reports of anti-Semitic incidents have increased by 67 percent since Jan. 1 over the same period in 2016, with a "disturbingly high" number taking place on college campuses, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights NGO.
The ADL reported just shy of 1,300 cases of anti-Semitism from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2017. These reports included 703 cases of harassment and 584 cases of vandalism. This amount exceeds the 2016 total of 779 incidents. Pennsylvania has had 58 anti-Semitic incidents thus far, putting it among the states that have had the most incidents.
In April, anti-Semitic and racist flyers containing messages such as “stop the blacks" and “join your local Nazis” were posted around Penn’s campus.
Penn President Amy Gutmann, former Provost Vincent Price, and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli sent an emailed statement at the time, saying Penn “strives to be a place that is safe and welcoming for all students, faculty and staff," and that expressing "hate or animus for any group of individuals is vile and reprehensible."
The ADL reported similar incidents on other campus nationwide, such as racially-charged posters on Princeton University’s campus in April, swastika vandalism at Georgetown University in September, and "Make America White Again" posters at the University of Michigan.
Since the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va. in August, where two state troopers and a 32-year-old woman were killed, there has been a 182 percent increase in the rate of anti-Semitic incidents nationally. The ADL reported that between July 1 and Aug. 10 there was a daily average of 2.36 anti-Semitic incidents daily. After Charlottesville, that number almost doubled to 4.3 daily.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate