- Fordham Prep, a Catholic Jesuit school in the Bronx, wrote to parents to inform them that students had been caught spraying antisemitic graffiti
- The students drew antisemitic symbols and slogans on October 9, two days after the Hamas terrorist attack, the principal and president of the school said
- The students have been suspended and the school says that they may get the police involved
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Students at a Catholic prep school in New York City have been suspended and face a possible hate crime investigation after they were caught drawing antisemitic graffiti.
Parents at Fordham Prep, a $24,000-a-year all-boys Jesuit school in the Bronx, have been informed about the suspensions.
The students were seen spraying the graffiti off-campus on October 9, said Anthony Day, president of the school, and Joseph Petriello, the school president, in their letter to parents.
The students were not named, and it was unclear how many were involved.
On October 9 a group of four young men were seen in upper Manhattan graffitiing swastikas on a building. It is not known if they are Fordham Prep students.
Fordham Prep, founded in 1841, currently has 950 students in grades nine to 12.
Fordham Preparatory School, where fees are almost $24,000 a year, has suspended students for making antisemitic graffiti
Joseph Petriello (left), the school principal, and Anthony Day, the president of Fordham Prep, wrote to parents to inform them of their actions
The school officials said the boys’ actions were ‘deplorable’.
The graffiti was sprayed two days after the Hamas terror attack, which killed 1,200 Israelis, and has sparked an outpouring of both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
The number of antisemitic hate crimes in New York City rose by 330 percent in the three weeks after the terrorist attack.
There were 16 reported in September and 69 in October, according to a review of NYPD data by the at California State University, San Bernardino.
Day and Petriello said the school ‘unequivocally condemns offensive and hateful language and action in all its forms.’
‘Anti-Semitic language and actions are antithetical to our Catholic Jesuit values,’ they added.
‘Hate speech has no place in our community.’
They said the entire student body had been addressed about the situation, through a series of assemblies for each grade.
They said the school’s leadership team had been consulted, and the police may yet be involved.
Fordham Prep was established in 1841, and now has 950 boys studying within its walls
‘Fordham Prep reserves the right to cede any investigation to law enforcement officials should they become involved in a matter concerning one or more Prep students.
‘We will fully cooperate with any police investigation into this incident.’
Officials at the school – where, despite its Jesuit character, only 25 percent are Catholics – said they wanted to send a message of support to the Jewish community.
‘Fordham Prep will continue to be a community of compassion, love, and understanding,’ the two school leaders wrote.
‘We fully recognize the hurt this causes.
‘While we are all offended by this universal symbol of hate, to our Jewish sisters and brothers, know that Fordham Prep stands beside you and we continue to welcome your participation in our community healing process.’
