Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...

The Jewish Greeks stood at the forefront of fighting antisemitism on theircampuses. At Brown University, the Phi Epsilon Pi chapter actively fought for the rightsof Jewish students. The President of Brown University, William Herbert Perry, forbadethe foundation of a Jewish fraternity at Brown. 101 This restriction denied Jewish studentsaccess to aspects of campus life only available to Greeks. For nearly thirteen years,fraternity officials and Jewish students met with the President, often pointing out hisflagrant discrimination against the Jewish students on campus. The students then calledupon the American Jewish Committee, often known for aiding in fights againstdiscrimination, to pressure the University. In 1929, after thirteen years of pressure,media controversy, threats of prosecution, and the death of President Faunce, a Jewishfraternity finally established itself at Brown University.In response to the antisemitism affecting students, the Jewish Greek organizationsdeveloped two schools of thought. Some concealed their Jewishness; others decided itwas best to openly embrace Judaism. AEPI, for example, pledged itself to "promotingJewish communal leadership," a commitment that appears in AEPI's mission statementtoday. In 1933, at the height of antisemitism, AEPI first awarded the "Alpha Epsilon PIGitelson Medallion" awarded to an alumnus who excels in Jewish communal service.The Medallion is presented in memory of Nehemiah Gitelson, a Talmudic scholar andJewish community activist, who was the father of M. Leo Gitelson '21. AEPI also oftenelected national officers who observed strict dietary law and the Sabbath. At the 1920national convention, Supreme Master Nathan Wolf called on his members to activelyfight antisemitism "anywhere and anyhow" they could. They also demonstrated fiscalsupport for the Jewish community, as records from the AEPi's Supreme Board meeting101 Sanua, 12926