Antisemitic party invite raises uproar at Savannah college

An initial investigation by the university found the post was made by someone not currently enrolled in the school, that no such party took place and no discriminatory signage was found on campus. The school, which also has a campus in Atlanta, said it is ready to help students impacted by the invitation.

“SCAD leadership is reaching out to students, faculty, and staff who have been affected by the social media post to offer support and resources,” reads a Friday statement, which added that school policy prohibits discrimination.

Danziger and fellow Jewish student Ammit Bezalel said the post — made on a Snapchat channel used by SCAD students — was shocking for its brazenness. “Is this real?” said Bezalel. “This is a very liberal campus. It’s a very understanding campus. So we have never really come in contact with any direct form of antisemitism.”

After seeing the image, Danziger thought of his friends who live in The Hive, the Savannah residence hall where the party was advertised to take place. “So now I have to let my friends know to please be safe because there’s a party happening at The Hive that’s antisemitic,” said Danziger.

Both Danziger and Bezalel credited SCAD and its office of inclusion for making them feel welcomed on campus. Bezalel said the school has done a lot to protect Jewish students and that its diversity team was hyper responsive in the wake of the incident.

The invitation has drawn a lot of attention on social media. A post on X by an organization condemning the message has received nearly 130,000 views.

The situation comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has attacked universities across the country, often cutting their federal funding based on its complaints the schools have not done enough to combat antisemitism. Critics say the administration is using antisemitism as a cudgel to make demands of universities and limit academic freedom.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reached out through social media to someone who identified himself as a former student who said he posted the invitation as a joke.

Claiming it was a reference to a scene in the movie “Ted,” he said he posted with the intention of getting kicked out of the Snapchat group. (SCAD said it does not have an official Snapchat account and does not have the ability to moderate content on the app.)

The incident gained attention on Thursday evening when StopAntisemitism, a self-described grassroots watchdog organization, posted a screenshot of the post, along with a photo of the person said to have created the invitation, to its Facebook page. A 2024 report from the privately funded organization claims it reaches nearly half a billion individuals monthly and “has created an environment where those who propagate hatred against the Jewish people are met with real world consequences including but not limited to being arrested, job loss, school expulsions, and awards revoked.” Efforts to contact the organization were unsuccessful.