FRATERNITY NEWS

AEPi INTERNATIONAL RAISES MORE THAN $65,000 FOR PHILANTHROPY THROUGH ANNUAL MENSCH MADNESS TOURNAMENT

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) – Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity (AEPi), the world’s leading Jewish college fraternity, has raised $66,811 for the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) through the fraternity’s annual Mensch Madness bracket challenge. This year’s total is the largest amount raised in the ten-year history of the program. AEPi’s Mensch Madness Official Bracket Challenge combines the excitement of the annual NCAA college basketball tournament with the competitiveness of pitting campuses across the globe against one another. The AEPi chapter that raises the most money wins a prize, as does the individual submitting the winning bracket. More than 1,200 brackets were submitted […]

UC DAVIS BROTHERS CONFRONT BDS

Last month (February 2024), student government at the University of California – Davis considered – and eventually passed – a BDS resolution on campus. For Brothers of the Chi Delta chapter of AEPi at UC-Davis, the process – and their participation in it – was an eye-opening experience. “I wouldn’t say that our campus had had a lot of antisemitism since October 7. There was a protest here and there but not a lot of issues here…not like some of the UC schools recently,” said Brother Adam Weissman (UC Davis, 2026). But, when he and Brother Adiel Avidor (UC Davis, [...]

AEPi ISSUES STATEMENT ON ANTISEMITIC VANDALISM AT BRADLEY UNIVERSITY

STATEMENT FROM ROB DERDIGER CEO, ALPHA EPSILON PI INTERNATIONAL  “This morning, our undergraduate Brothers at Bradley University woke up to find graffiti on the side of the house in which they live and on public spaces on campus that said, ‘AEPi Supports Genocide.’ To be clear, AEPi supports: Recognizing Israel as the historical and current home of the Jewish people. Defending the right of Israelis to live safely and peacefully among their neighbors. Ensuring that Jewish students at Bradley University – and all institutions of higher learning –not be intimidated because of their beliefs or their Jewish identity. Unfortunately, what […]

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UC DAVIS BROTHERS CONFRONT BDS

Last month (February 2024), student government at the University of California – Davis considered – and eventually passed – a BDS resolution on campus. For Brothers of the Chi Delta chapter of AEPi at UC-Davis, the process – and their participation in it – was an eye-opening experience. “I wouldn’t say that our campus had had a lot of antisemitism since October 7. There was a protest here and there but not a lot of issues here…not like some of the UC schools recently,” said Brother Adam Weissman (UC Davis, 2026). But, when he and Brother Adiel Avidor (UC Davis, [...]

Phi Delta Brothers at Allegheny County Council

Since October 7, and the subsequent tidal wave of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S. and across the world, a contingent of the Jewish community has had to step outside of its comfort zone to advocate on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people. On college campuses, where the antisemitic rhetoric has been especially virulent and the actions against the Jewish community often bordering on violent, displaying that leadership for the Jewish community has been even more daunting. Earlier this week, four AEPi Brothers from the Phi Delta chapter at the University of Pittsburgh stepped outside of their comfort [...]

Brothers Jackson Politis (Elon, 2025), Ryan Ward (Elon, 2025), Michael Wolff (Elon, 2024) and Jesse Riback (Elon, 2025)

When four Brothers of the Epsilon Phi chapter of AEPi at Elon University registered last spring for a class called “Holocaust Journey” they never imagined the significance their three-week tour of Eastern Europe and concentration camps in 2024 would hold. But, for Brothers Jackson Politis (Elon, 2025), Ryan Ward (Elon, 2025), Michael Wolff (Elon, 2024) and Jesse Riback (Elon, 2025), the trip moved them to become stronger advocates for the Jewish community, Israel and AEPi. During the fall semester of 2023, the class met weekly and reviewed the history of World War II and the Holocaust. “A lot of the [...]

AEPi VOICES

VOICES: My Jewish Journey Has Been Shaped By My AEPi Experience (UC Berkeley, 2024)

(Editor’s Note: Daniel Conway (UC – Berkeley, 2024) wrote the following column to tell his personal Jewish journey in college and express his experiences on campus since October 7. In January of 2023, Daniel was featured as a Friday PiDay on the AEPi website telling his story as a Israel on Campus Coalition Geller Fellow. AEPi is proud to use this space to help Daniel tell his story and to give our Brothers and supporters a taste of the climate on campus today. To submit your own column, email [email protected]). Over the past five months, I have realized that my [...]

VOICES: There are no words but there is still hope – By Brother Rabbi Alan Litwak (UC – Santa Barbara, 1989)

(Editor’s Note: Brother Rabbi Alan Litwak was a founding father of the Sigma Beta chapter of AEPi at University of California – Santa Barbara. Raised in Northern California, he is a product of the Reform Jewish movement and has served congregations in both Southern and Northern California, as well as Long Island, Manhattan, and Albany, New York. Since 2002 he has held the position of Senior Rabbi at Temple Sinai of North Dade (Florida). The VOICES article below are excerpts from social media posts Rabbi Litwak wrote for his congregation while on a South Florida rabbinical mission to Israel in [...]

VOICES: After October 7, I Had to Go Home – By Rob Ackerman (UC Berkeley, 1986)

When the October 7 pogrom hit, I had just come home from Sukkot services where author Dara Horn discussed her new book, Everyone Loves Dead Jews.  As I went to bed, my Red Alert missile app was going crazy indicating hundreds of missiles had been fired at Israel from Aza. I have the app because not only is my youngest son studying at Yeshiva Ohr Semach in Jerusalem but also so I can keep an eye on my cousins and friends all over Israel. I initially thought, “It’s just Hamas acting up, Israel will bomb somewhere, and we will go [...]

SUBMIT FRATERNITY NEWS

AEPi is always looking for good news and stories about our undergraduates, alumni and partners. We feature such stories on this site’s weekly #FridayPiday section and in our quarterly publication, The Lion. Send us some news!