Rob’s Report: After a Difficult Year on Campus, AEPi Brothers Must Come Together
As another school year comes to a close, I have been thinking a great deal about what it has meant to be a Jewish college student in 2025–2026. Every year brings its own challenges, but this year asked more of our undergraduate brothers than most. It asked them to lead when leadership was uncomfortable. It asked them to stand proudly as Jews when Jewish identity was too often treated as something to be explained, debated, or defended. It asked them to advocate for Israel when anyone who supports the Jewish homeland is ostracized or attacked. It asked them to build community in places where community did not always come easily. Most of all, it asked them to remember that they are never alone.
Across North America and around the world, Jewish students continued to face a campus climate shaped by the aftermath of October 7 and the years of unrest that followed. There were campuses where the atmosphere improved, where administrators took stronger action, where Jewish organizations were better supported and where student leaders found new partners. There were also campuses where Jewish students still felt isolated, questioned or targeted. AEPi advocated strongly with college administrators to better protect Jewish students, to ensure their safety, and to treat Jewish students equitably.
That has been the reality our brothers have lived. They have attended class, taken exams, rushed new members, run philanthropy events, celebrated Shabbat, supported Israel, advocated for their chapters and tried to have a normal college experience in a time that has often felt anything but normal. They have watched headlines about encampments, divestment votes, protests, vandalism and the delegitimization of Jewish student life. Even as reported incidents of campus antisemitism declined in 2025 from the dramatic spike of 2024, those numbers remained far above pre-October 7 levels, and the threat did not disappear. In fact, we now hear apathy in terms of reporting. Why report when there is no resolution? How does one count what is encountered online where most students encounter pervasive antisemitism?
This year also reminded us that the attacks on Jewish students are not always direct. Sometimes they come through attempts to isolate Jewish organizations, question Jewish belonging or make support for Jewish life conditional. That should concern every member of our community. AEPi knows that Jewish students need places where they can be fully themselves. They need organizations that are unapologetically Jewish, proudly Zionist, deeply fraternal, and committed to developing leaders who will strengthen our people for generations.
That is why I am so proud of our undergraduate brothers. On campuses large and small, AEPi chapters continued to show up. Some chapters hosted record-setting philanthropy events. Some strengthened relationships with Hillel, Chabad, AJC, Jewish Federations and local synagogues. Some stood beside Jewish students who were afraid to speak up. Some became the only consistent Jewish community on their campus. Some brothers led in student government, IFC, athletics, academics and community service. Others simply did the quiet, essential work of checking in on one another, opening their chapter houses, sharing meals and making sure that Jewish students had a home. Many also built bridges withing their community. They forged friendships that led to discourse and greater understanding.
That work matters. It matters because AEPi is not just another fraternity with a Jewish history. AEPi is the Jewish fraternity. We are dedicated to developing the future leaders of the Jewish community. This mission has never been more relevant than it is right now.
When I visit chapters and speak with brothers, I hear the same themes again and again. Our students are tired, but they are not defeated. They are frustrated, but they are not silent. They are worried, but they are determined. They want to know how to talk about Israel in a complicated environment. They want to know how to support brothers who feel isolated. They want to know how to recruit Jewish men who may be hesitant to join anything visibly Jewish. They want to know how to lead and communicate better and build chapters that can withstand the challenges of this moment. They want to know how to have a great college experience. Those are not small questions. They are the questions of leadership.
That is why this summer’s AEPi International Convention is so important.
From July 29 through August 2, 2026, brothers from around the world will gather in Phoenix for AEPi’s 113th International Convention. Convention is always one of the most meaningful experiences we offer. This year, it feels especially necessary.
Convention is where our brothers remember the scale of what they are part of. A student who may be one of only a handful of Jewish men on his campus walks into a room filled with AEPi brothers from across the globe and immediately understands that his chapter is part of something much larger. A new master struggling to lead a chapter through a difficult moment meets alumni and undergraduates who have faced similar challenges. A brother who has spent the year defending Jewish pride on campus finds himself surrounded by others who understand exactly what that means. That experience is more than just powerful. It is transformational.
It is also practical. Our chapter leaders need training, tools and relationships. They need to learn from one another. They need to return to campus with stronger recruitment plans, better risk management practices, more effective Jewish programming, deeper alumni engagement and a clearer sense of purpose. Convention provides that. But it is also one of the most inspirational and memorable experiences that a brother can have. Ask any alumnus about his favorite convention stories. And, get ready to write your own.
We have some amazing programs and speakers lined up for this year highlighted by our keynote speaker, Jared Firestone OLY, Esq., a 2026 Olympian who represented Team Israel in Skeleton at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics and served as Israel’s flagbearer in the Cortina Opening Ceremonies.
I especially want to encourage our alumni to attend. Come for the whole convention. Come for a day. Come for Shabbat. Come for the Saturday night banquet. Your presence matters more than you may realize. When undergraduates see alumni who still care, still show up and still believe in AEPi, they understand that this brotherhood is not temporary. It is lifelong. It is intergenerational. It is a bond that connects a freshman pledge class to decades of Jewish leadership, brotherhood, and service.
To our undergraduate brothers: you have earned this moment. You have carried yourselves with pride during a year that asked a great deal of you. You have represented AEPi, your campuses and the Jewish people with strength. Now I hope you will join us in Phoenix to recharge, to learn, to celebrate and to prepare for the year ahead.
To our alumni, parents, volunteers, and partners: this is the time to stand with our students. They are doing important work on campus, often under difficult circumstances. They need our support, our mentorship, and our belief in them.
The school year behind us was not easy. The year ahead will bring new challenges. But AEPi has never been about avoiding difficult moments. We were built for them. We were built to bring Jewish men together, to create leaders and to ensure that no brother has to stand alone. This summer in Phoenix, we will come together again — proud, united, and ready for what comes next.
For more information and to register, visit www.aepi.org/convention. I look forward to seeing you in Phoenix!
One final note: As the 2025-2026 school year comes to a close, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the AEPi Foundation to support Jewish and leadership development programs that help define the next generation of leadership for the Jewish community.