(INDIANAPOLIS, IN)  Alpha Epsilon Pi International (AEPi), the world’s largest and leading Jewish college fraternity, hosted a virtual summit and panel discussion with college administrators to discuss the burgeoning crisis of antisemitism on college campuses and suggest strategies to confront it.

As a part of the Shine A Light campaign, AEPi hosted a panel discussion on Thursday, December 14, 2023 with more than 150 college administrators discussing challenges for Jewish students on campus and how to properly address antisemitism and create a meaningful dialogue that contributes to the construction of a campus community that values diversity and prioritizing the well-being of all its students. The panel was moderated by AEPi CEO Rob Derdiger and also features Avi Gordon, the executive director of Alums for Campus Fairness, Lauren Suriel, the national field director of the Israel on Campus Coalition and Candice Perilstein, ADL’s associate director of Jewish and campus partnerships.

“Confronting antisemitism on college campuses is not new to AEPi. We have been doing this every day on hundreds of college campuses for decades. We’ve chosen to directly work with a wide variety of campus educators and administrators in a positive and proactive manner. We provide them with concrete action items they can take – like adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism or including Jewish narratives in DEI initiatives – and with resources that they can use to make a difference on their campus such as our 5-R Antisemitism Response E-learning module.” said AEPi’s Derdiger.

“Obviously, this year the topic of campus antisemitism has received a lot of attention. Through our ongoing relationships with campus administrators, we were able to pull together this discussion which has already resulted in several confidential discussions with administrators about changes they wish to implement on their campus and challenges that they face in creating that change,” said Derdiger. “At this dangerous point in time, we need to be fierce advocates for enforcement of existing codes of conduct on campuses which will help to ensure that Jewish students feel as safe and heard as other minority student groups.”

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About Alpha Epsilon Pi

Alpha Epsilon Pi is the world’s largest and leading Jewish college fraternity, operating chapters on more than 150 college campuses in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Israel. Founded in 1913, AEPi has more than 110,000 living alumni. The fraternity’s mission – developing the future leaders of the Jewish communities – is demonstrated every day through acts of brotherhood, Tzedakah (charity), social awareness and support for Jewish communities and Israel.