A Broken Nose is Less Than Words?

(More un-PC advertisements can be found here!)

4 students suspended after attack at Temple
The assault, in which a man’s nose was broken, is tentatively being labeled a hate crime.

By Carlin Romano

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Four Temple University students have been suspended in what is being tentatively characterized as a hate-crime assault on the main campus.

Temple president Anne Weaver Hart announced the suspensions Friday, saying they resulted from a confrontation early Feb. 15 on North Broad Street.

"The assault included anti-Semitic language, and the student was seriously injured," Hart informed members of the Temple community in an e-mail.

The students were suspended pending a University Disciplinary Committee hearing, Hart stated. University police, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Police Department, are pursuing criminal charges.

"We are taking this situation very seriously," Hart wrote. ". . . Hate crimes will not be tolerated by Temple University."

According to an NBC10 report, two men, neither one a Temple student, were assaulted. The station reported that they had left a restaurant and were standing outside the former North Broad Street house of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, which recently moved to a nearby location.

According to the television report, the Temple students asked the men if they belonged to the fraternity. When the men answered no, the report said, at least one of the students made an anti-Semitic remark and punched one of the victims, leaving him with a broken orbital bone in his face and a broken nose.

Temple's assistant director of news communications, Hillel Hoffmann, said last night that he could not confirm any details beyond Hart's statement.

"I know that one was physically assaulted, but I don't know how many victims there are if you include verbal assault," Hoffman said.

Hoffman said federal privacy laws prevented the university from releasing the names of the suspended students as long as they remained Temple students and had not been charged with a crime.

Joel Littman, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, said he had been asked not to comment on details of the allegations. But after he was told about the NBC10 account, he said, "That's pretty much my understanding of the incident."

While the victims were not members of Alpha Epsilon Pi, he said, "as the Jewish fraternity on campus, we take the stance that anti-Semitic attacks or any sort of racism is unacceptable in 2008."

The national fraternity's Web page states that "Alpha Epsilon Pi was founded to provide opportunities for the Jewish college man seeking the best possible college and fraternity experience."


The TrekMedic seethes:

As someone who's given (and taken) a punch or two in his day, you're going to tell me the more serious matter here (and the one garnering more attention) is the anti-Semitic remarks and not the cold-cock to the face that resulted in some serious trauma???

Is Temple President Hart sending a message that words aren't tolerated, but busting heads is perfectly OK, so long as you don't bring race or ethnicity to the fight?

Whiskey,..Tango,..Foxtrot???