U. investigating swastika graffiti in graduate student apartment building

Antisemitic graffiti of a gray swastika was found on the wall of a graduate student apartment building inside the Lakeside housing complex in mid-July. The graffiti was removed immediately following multiple reports, with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) opening an investigation into the incident and increasing foot patrols in the area in response, according to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.

Construction was underway inside Lakeside at the time of the incident, and the University has not yet determined whether the graffiti was the work of a student or contractor. No suspects have been named.

“The University deplores expressions of hatred directed against any individual or group,” Morrill wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. The Graduate School has since reached out to the graduate students who reported the incident to update them on any developments, she noted.

The University’s policy on Respect for Others explicitly condemns “expressions of hatred directed against any individual or group” and “actions which make the atmosphere objectively intimidating, threatening, or hostile to individuals.”

Rabbi Eitan Webb, co-founder of the Chabad House at Princeton, told the ‘Prince’ that he felt saddened by the incident but praised the University’s swift response and its ongoing efforts to maintain a safer environment for everyone.

“The Jewish response to aggression has always been to stand more proudly. Chabad will be providing mezuza[h]s free of charge to any student that wants to display them on their doors. I feel safe, and I am happy to broadcast my faith,” Webb wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’

“[Princeton’s administration] should be applauded for taking this seriously and for their care,” he added.

Other community members, including Maximillian Meyer ’27, president of Tigers for Israel, criticized the administration for not sharing this information more widely among the campus and public.

“The administration needs to be speaking out against this virulent antisemitism immediately — and not simply when students raise the issue and make noise in the media or online,” Meyer wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ “Until Princeton develops the guts to name this rising hatred, confront it publicly, and treat it with the seriousness it demands, the safety of students will remain at risk.”

Last week, a swastika was painted inside a @Princeton graduate student apartment building–right in a hallway where Jewish students live.

If someone loiters suspiciously near a Wawa off campus, the school blasts an alert to the entire community. But when one of history’s most… pic.twitter.com/MEoowd2uw8
— Maximillian Meyer (@MaxDMeyer) July 30, 2025

In October, the University opened an investigation into a series of stickers found on campus with statements like “Tel Aviv will burn” and “Death to Israel.”

Sena Chang is a senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’ She typically covers campus and community activism, the state of higher education, and alumni news.