Swastika (generic) Image by File

A residence hall at Rowan University in southern New Jersey was vandalized with swastikas and other anti-Semitic grafitti.

The Nazi symbols were discovered Thursday and reported to the university administration.

The dean of students, Richard Jones, condemned the graffiti in an email Sunday to students, and wrote that police are investigating the incident.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“It is important to clearly state that the sort of bias and hate that this type of incident represents are completely inconsistent with Rowan’s values,” he wrote. “Members of our community should be safe from hate in all areas of the campus, from the residence halls to the classrooms.”

Rabbi Hersh Loschak, the Chabad rabbi at Rowan, wrote in a statement that he was shocked, especially as he has found the university’s student body to be especially tolerant and accepting.

“We refuse to be intimidated or frightened,” Loschak wrote Tuesday. “In fact, we will use this incident as a motivation to increase the light and expand our programming for Jewish students on campus.”

Rowan, a state university located less than 25 miles from Philadelphia, has some 12,000 undergraduate students. Slightly more than one-third of the students live on campus.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount