16 | AUGUST 3 • 2023 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

he Ann Arbor Police 
Department (AAPD) 
is actively investigating 
“hate-motivated vandalism” — one 
with antisemitic intention — at two 
off-campus University of Michigan 
fraternity houses. 
The vandalism consists of 
homophobic and antisemitic sym-
bols, including a swastika at one of 
the locations on Oxford Road, loca-
tion of the Jewish frat house Sigma 
Alpha Mu. The other location is on 
Geddes Avenue. 
It is believed the vandalism 
occurred between 5 p.m. on July 17 
and 6 a.m. on July 18.
“The AAPD is looking for assis-
tance from community members 
who might have seen anything sus-
picious or who might have captured 
the suspect or suspects on doorbell 
cameras during this time period,
” 
the AAPD said in a statement. “The 
AAPD takes hate-motivated crimes 
very seriously. Hate has no place in the city 
of Ann Arbor.
” 
Anyone with any further information can 
contact the AAPD tip line at (734) 794-6939 
or email the tip line at tips@a2gov.org.
University of Michigan President Santa 
J. Ono released a statement to the campus 
community on July 21: 
“We are aware of the recent vandalism 
that has been reported to Ann Arbor Police 
at two off-campus fraternity houses where 
University of Michigan students will be 
living in the fall. Both houses are vacant for 
the summer. The university condemns these 
acts of vandalism, which included broken 
windows and spray-painted messages that 
are vile, homophobic and antisemitic. These 
types of incidents are in direct conflict with 
the university’s deeply held values of respect 

and inclusion and have no place within our 
campus community or in the broader Ann 
Arbor community.
” 
Tilly Shemer, executive 
director of Michigan Hillel, 
told the JN, “We were grateful 
for the quick response from 
the university administration 
and their support of the Jewish 
and LGBTQ+ communities on 
campus.
”
Shadia Martini, a candidate for the 
Democratic nomination for the 54th State 
House District (including Bloomfield 
Township and Bloomfield Hills), took to 
Twitter following the antisemitic attack. 
“
A swastika and other extremist symbols 
were sprayed on fraternity houses in Ann 
Arbor this week. Let’s be clear: This is a hate 

crime. It is reprehensible that Jewish 
students continue to be targets of 
antisemitic hate,
” Martini said.

PRIOR ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS
Last September, antisemitic fly-
ers were placed on the porches of 
off-campus University of Michigan 
student-populated neighborhoods 
in Ann Arbor. The flyers contained 
antisemitic conspiracy theories with 
a QR code link to an antisemitic hate 
website.
Earlier this year, a Clinton 
Township woman was arrested for 
spray-painting antisemitic graffiti on 
the Woodward Avenue Shul in Royal 
Oak. Police said Randi Lucille Nord 
spray-painted a swastika with the 
word “
AZOV” on an outside wall of 
the Shul. The word AZOV is associ-
ated with a Ukrainian militia group 
with neo-Nazi leanings. Nord faces a 
felony charge of ethnic intimidation 
and a misdemeanor charge of mali-
cious destruction of a building.
The 2022 Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 
issued March 23 by the Anti-Defamation 
League (ADL) showed antisemitic incidents 
in Michigan remain at an alarming number, 
mirroring even more troubling nationwide 
figures.
Antisemitic incidents once again reached 
an all-time high in the United States in 
2022, with a total of 3,697 incidents of 
assault, harassment and vandalism reported 
to the ADL, a 36% year-over-year increase.
As has been the case for several years, 
Michigan placed in the group of states 
ranking highest in the nation for incidents 
of antisemitism, ranking ninth overall with 
111 incidents in 2022. Michigan data also 
showed more incidents of vandalism in 
2022 than the previous year. 

Jewish U-M fraternity among two buildings 
struck with hateful graffiti and vandalism.

Ann Arbor Frat House Hit 
with Antisemitic Vandalism 

Tilly 
Shemer

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER