For those on this campus who have not yet heard, a swastika was painted onto the exterior of North Quad's AB Lounge last week. I will start my article with questions, but the answers will not come in the words that follow - they may only come through joint campus action.

Why did University President Jehuda Reinharz fail to send an e-mail condemning the swastika the day it was discovered? Why was Rev. Nathaniel Mays' e-mail several days after the incident? Where is the campus-wide condemnation by the Intercultural Center? Why has there not been a public outcry by various campus groups that claim to be pillars of tolerance and respect? Why have there been no rallies? Why has there been no protest? Senate resolutions? Emergency meetings? Where are the very vocal students who responded to last semester's hateful acts now?

Upon asking Student Union President Joshua Brandfon '05 why he had not penned a letter to the Brandeis community, he responded that he first read about the incident in the Justice. It has been seven days since then with no response.

Especially, but by no means exclusively, due to our heightened sensitivity from last semester's hateful incidents, the silence on this campus in the wake of this regressive act is inconceivable. With regard to Brandeis' record of intolerance, such silence only adds insult to injury, as hate crimes yet again threaten to move our campus from growth to paralysis.

Few symbols in modern times are as deeply hurtful in representation, meaning and history as the swastika. A mere 60 years ago, its prongs tore through millions of Jews, gays, gypsies and other minorities, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. The swastika mercilessly destroyed the European Jewish community and crippled world Jewry in a way that has yet to be mended. To this day, there are nearly 20 percent fewer Jews in the world than there were before the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities.

It is unfathomable to think that campus ambivalence to a swastika would stem from ignorance. While made famous by the Nazis during World War II, the swastika tragically remains a symbol of hate across the contemporary world.

With purely constructive ambitions in mind, it is essential to investigate and scrutinize the lack of Administration and student response to this despicable hate crime. Moreover, we must reverse this silence and reply with strength and conviction.

While most of campus has been silent, I applaud the public reactions of an unfortunately small number of people. In an articulate e-mail to the student body, Mays condemned this act saying, "We must not allow mean-spirited individuals to create distrust and feelings of apathy within our community." Furthermore, North Quad Director Rusmir Music forcefully wrote to his residents, "Clearly, this and similar expressions of hate will not be tolerated in the Brandeis community."

On campus walkways, in dining halls and in classrooms, I have heard the following question asked, and though it is troublesome, I will pose it here: Why is the response to this incident especially lacking as compared to the responses to the fliers, articles and hate scribblings on last semester's proverbial wall?

While it too elicited weak response, there was another message of hate etched into this shameful year of intolerance at Brandeis. The words "Jew U" were carved into Chapels Field one snowy night.

Perhaps this sheds light on the passive reaction discussed above.

I have often heard it posited at Brandeis that Jewish faculty and students on this campus must necessarily feel comfortable in number and voice. I have heard students voice the opinion that since Brandeis is "so Jewish" the campus should be worrying more about its less represented students.

In the heat of last semester's racially-charged discussions, a line of analysis was put forth time and again. The reasoning was that if there had been an anti-Semitic incident, Brandeis administrators and students would be much more forceful in their response.

Whether these assumptions have basis in logic or reason, they have proven wrong. There is no group, no matter how big or small that is immune to hate. And as these assumptions are painfully erased, so should any notion this campus has of ignoring a community's' right to respect merely because of its size.

As a Jew and as a person I am not comfortable at Brandeis if swastikas are to be painted on its walls. But, towering high above this despicable act of hate, is the silent crime committed by those on this campus who failed to speak out against it.