During last week’s commencement ceremony at Northwestern University in Chicago, Rabbi Dov Klein publicly discussed the anger being directed towards the Jewish community, specifically a recent anti-Semitic attack, the third time such an incident occurred on campus this year.

Construction workers reported graffiti on the windows of Ryan Field on campus, the vandalism consisting of swastikas and other anti-Semitic symbols.

Just two weeks ago, the university suffered a similar attack when graffiti was found spray painted on another construction site on the grounds. Other reported vandalism for the school includes a swastika found drawn in the library and a menorah on campus has been vandalized a total of three times just in the past year and half.

A student government at the university also passed a resolution to boycott Israel this past year, which is something that Klein believes may be connected to the rise of anti-Semitism on campus.

Klein addressed the perpetrators, asking them where their anger was coming from and telling them that their behavior was unacceptable. He went on to say that he wished he could understand why the perpetrator was vandalizing the campus, adding that an explanation of what the symbols meant and represented might be in order as well.

A swastika was found drawn in the library and a menorah on campus has been vandalized a total of three times just in the past year and half (Archive photo: Chabad)

“We want to know if (the perpetrators) were just being goofy or making a statement of some sort,” he said.

“I’m going to assume that the person is angry,” he continued. “Angry at the Jewish community. Angry at Israel. It doesn’t seem to be a dumb act and what better way to express that anger than at graduation… These windows open up and until somebody is found or until some strong actions are taken, that window will remain open.”

Anti-Semitism on campus has been on the rise over the last few years, particularly in the US. Back in March, a Jewish fraternity at Vanderbilt University in Nashville found two swastikas painted in the elevator of the Alpha Epsilon Pi house.

The University of California Riverside received backlash when undergrad, Tina Matar, taught an anti-Semitic class supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups. The university didn’t pull the class on the grounds that it didn’t violate any of the terms outlined in the school’s mandate.

“Unfortunately, people have a lot of anger toward the Jewish people and they come up with a little bit of a window of openings to express it,” Klein said in an interview with The Algemeiner.

Reprinted with permission from Shalom Life .