University Condemns Antisemitic Graffiti in Graduate Housing

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Antisemitic graffiti of a swastika found in a graduate student housing building in mid-July was immediately removed, according to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.

Courtesy of Maximillian Meyer ’27

Antisemitic graffiti of a swastika was found painted inside the hallway of a graduate student housing building in mid-July. The image was immediately removed from the wall, according to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.

“The Department of Public Safety (DPS) increased foot patrols in the area and is actively investigating the incident,” Morrill wrote in an email to PAW.

According to DPS’s crime log, the department received the report of a “Harassment: Bias Incident” at Lakeside Apartments after 5 p.m. on July 17. No suspects have been named.

Morrill wrote that the Graduate School reached out to the graduate students who reported the graffiti to update them on the situation and provide support. “The University deplores expressions of hatred directed against any individual or group,” she wrote.

Maximillian Meyer ’27, the president of Tigers for Israel, initially posted a photo of the image on X and criticized the University administration for not speaking out more publicly about the incident.

“The administration needs to be speaking out against this virulent antisemitism immediately – and not simply when students raise the issue and make noise in the media or online,” he wrote in a message to PAW. “Until Princeton develops the cojones to name this hatred, confront it publicly, and treat it with the seriousness it demands, the safety of students will remain at risk.”

Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91 of the Center for Jewish Life did not respond to a request for comment.

During the 2023-24 academic year, the most recent year for which data has been published, the University received 65 complaints alleging bias or harassing behavior targeting Jewish individuals, comprising 33 incidents, according to the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity’s Bias Annual Report. Seventeen incidents involved offensive imagery, including posters, fliers, and graffiti. The University also received 32 complaints (related to 12 incidents) alleging bias or harassing behavior targeting individuals associated with the pro-Palestinian cause, according to the annual bias report. The total complaints related to the Israel/Hamas war in 2023-24 exceeded all bias and discrimination complaints reported on campus in 2022-23.