Pictured: Executive leadership of the Jewish Fraternity and Sorority Committee with expert panelists from a recent Summit Against Hate program.

It’s no secret to any alumnus of a Jewish fraternity or sorority that our organizations are special – and because of this distinctiveness, often set apart and misunderstood from other Greek letter chapters and student groups.

Fraternities and sororities are the largest and oldest organizations providing a campus home for Jewish students. In a historic cooperative effort, the national leadership of five Jewish fraternities and sororities have banded together to address those misconceptions and prove to the world that our students deserve better.

“Too often we hear that the needs of Jewish students are forgotten, ignored or misunderstood. Antisemitic slurs are brushed aside as ‘jokes.’ Fall recruitment events are held over Yom Kippur. Wearing a kippah is seen as ‘weird’,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity, Libby Anderson, CAE. “We need to document the pervasiveness of these issues with basic facts and recorded testimonials, so we can take this information to universities and advocate for our members.”

The newly formed Jewish Fraternity and Sorority Committee is working to get students the support they urgently need on campus, and its action plan is rooted in data. The Committee is supporting research to unequivocally prove to university administrators, government agencies and policy-makers that change is necessary.

Few academic studies exist that address the challenges faced by Jewish college students, particularly those who choose to join a fraternity or sorority. University administrators and the staff who work with fraternities and sororities lack understanding how to directly support Jewish students and, worse, have limited resources for education and for those students.

“Universities are not doing enough to defend and help Jewish students. Our presence on campus is vital to so many,” said Bonnie Wunsch, Executive Director of Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority and co-chair of the committee. “Being a member of a Jewish sorority or fraternity gives students a home on campus where they can be proud of their Jewish identity in a safe environment.”

In March 2023, the Jewish Fraternity and Sorority Committee was formed to help guide research in partnership with Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority, Sigma Delta Tau Sorority, Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity and a local chapter at Penn State, Beta Sigma Beta.

The JFSC engaged the Piazza Center at Penn State to seek this data. Established in January 2019, the Piazza Center is a research facility dedicated to the Greek-letter community, reaching across 800 campuses and addressing crucial issues for fraternity and sorority members like hazing, substance abuse and mental health.

“We are learning  ways to make students safe and create thriving Greek Life for all students, including those who are Jewish,” said Stevan Veldkamp, Executive Director of the Piazza Center. “Our research will focus on historically Jewish chapters and members, but we look to discover ways to support Jewish students in any student organization.”

This fraternal research started in early 2023, with the Piazza Center team leading focus groups with the university staff members who work directly with Greek letter groups. Initial findings included:

• These university staff members are not prepared to handle antisemitic incidents and do not understand the impact on Jewish students.
• Universities do not have structures in place to support their staff or students when antisemitic incidents happen. Education and prevention resources are scarce.
• Campuses do not include Jewish groups in diversity conversations.
• University and/or governmental policy typically ignores antisemitism or, worse, upholds rules that are antisemitic in nature.

This was before the terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and subsequent Israel-Hamas war – which immediately compounded these issues.

Since late 2023, JFSC and Piazza Center leadership doubled down on these plans, focusing on the changed campus climate, the rise of protests and the impact on individual Jewish students and their safety. The work has continued, moving audiences, with researchers hearing from students about their experiences. Findings from the analysis of student data are in the final stages and will be published soon. The next phase of research will be to seek comparable data from alumni members.

The work completed so far has been generously funded by gifts from the Foundations that support Jewish Fraternity and Sorority Committee member organizations, with the Zeta Beta Tau Foundation as the lead donor. Penn State hopes to generate an endowment to support Piazza Center research.

Survey

ZBTs who graduated between 2009 and 2024 are invited to participate in the next phase of this research, a survey of alumni asking questions about their undergraduate experiences to inform campus policy and program development. Brothers in that age range can take the survey here. Thank you for your consideration.

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