oy oy oy zeta beta tau what have you done to my little yiddish boy / Spring Break! Wheeeeee! /

Laurence Bolotin, Executive Director 

Zeta Beta Tau International

 

Dear  Laurence Bolotin,

 

Please excuse me for urinating and barfing on you, but it's spring break, and I'm drunk. (But not illegally -- I'm 68.)

 

Although I checked out ZBT during freshman rush week, America was having a big overseas war at the time, so I never got around to pledging a frat. Thanks for the free drinks.

 

A few years later I was drafted and served honorably for two years in the United States Army.

 

I am embarrassed to admit that I took a certain pleasure from the SAE scandal at the University of Oklahoma. This is what I have come to expect from frats. I knew that Jewish college men would never act like this.

 

I have a lot of advice for ZBT to move on from this unfortunate incident, but on reflection, my best advice is that you should all go fuck yourself, and dissolve and terminate the entire ZBT fraternity. And take the Jewish sororities with you. America has a right to be spared further disgusting behavior from assholes like you.

 

Wishing you all a non-life-threatening but painful lingering skin disease -- shingles maybe -- I remain

 

Disgustedly yours,

 

Robert Merkin

 

SP5 US Army 1969-1971

Army Commendation Medal

Chesterfield, Massachusetts USA

 

P.S. Channeling my late World War II Army veteran uncles, including the one who was killed at the Battle of the Bulge: Go fuck yourself again.

===========

oy oy oy zeta beta toy
what have you done to my little jewish boy
i sent him off to college to learn to read and write
now he dates a shiksa every friday night
i sent him off to college to learn to read and spell
now he thinks boruch atoh is a football yell
I sent him off to college to learn the jewish way
now he thinks a horah is a girl who's gone astray

-- popular college ditty circa 1920s

 

===============

 

New York Daily News

tabloid, New York City USA

Friday 24 April 2015

Zeta Beta Tau frat members kicked out for spitting on wounded military veterans, ‘urinating on the American flag’ during rowdy spring formal at Panama City

by Sasha Goldstein

Three University of Florida students were kicked out of their fraternity after the group of drunken bros spit on and insulted a group of wounded military veterans enjoying a biannual retreat in Panama City Beach.

The fallout comes after reports of boorish behavior by members of Zeta Beta Tau at the Laketown Wharf resort last week when the frat boys clashed with families enjoying the annual Warrior Beach Retreat.

"They actually spit on me and my service dog as well, and that's just so disrespectful and it hurts,” wounded veteran Nicholas Connole told WJHG-TV. “I come and I feel honored and I feel safe and that I belong, but now I feel like I'm defending myself.”

Among other allegations against the students, who came from chapters at UF and Emory University in Atlanta, were claims the rowdy revelers stole American flags from the wounded vets, who hold parades and visit the beach during the weekend retreat.

"They're a total disgrace for our military," Warrior Beach Retreat founder and organizer Linda Cope told [television station] WJHG. 
"They were urinating on the American flag, they were throwing things off of the balconies."

The bottle tossing got the kids kicked out of the hotel, where the 60 or so wounded vets for staying for free after Laketown Wharf donated $68,000 worth of rooms and meeting areas, according to The Gainesville Sun.

Cope started the biannual event six years ago in honor of her son, Joshua, who lost both legs in a 2006 Baghdad blast. She was distraught the event honoring the military heroes had been tarnished.
“These guys were getting out of control," Cope told the newspaper. “I was just in tears. This was supposed to be a safe place.”

Both frat chapters have been suspended during an investigation.

The Florida chapter was already on probation at the university because of a fall hazing incident, according to The Sun.

“Being on probation means the organization faces increased consequences if they are found to have violated the probation requirements,” UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes told the newspaper.

The frat’s executive director said the organization has hired an independent investigator and is “committed to doing everything we can to make amends with the veterans community.”

“We have already expelled three members from our chapter at the University of Florida for inappropriate behavior at the event, and we will take additional action as the investigation unfolds,” Laurence Bolotin said in a statement. “In all cases, as we hold our members accountable we will follow the disciplinary process set forth in our bylaws.”

Cope said the rowdiness may be an indictment on the college spring break culture, which invades Florida beaches, including Panama City, every March and April.
 

 "I have not stood up and said anything about spring break because we constantly want to get the support of the community, but if this is at all indicative of what these college students do, we need to get rid of it," Cope said.

 

- 30 -

********************

April 24, 2015

Statement from Laurence Bolotin, Executive Director, Zeta Beta Tau International On Action Plan Regarding Panama City Beach Incident  We wanted to share additional details around how our international organization is handling the incident that took place last weekend in Panama City Beach.  We are committed to doing everything we can to make amends with the veterans community.  We have reached out to start a dialogue with the Warrior Beach Retreat and to offer whatever assistance we can to rectify this awful situation. We look forward to continuing our productive conversations so we can find ways for our two organizations to work together in the future to support our nation’s brave veterans.  We have hired an independent investigator so we can fully understand the facts and hold members accountable.  While there is no doubt that some our members engaged in unacceptable behavior, it is important to separate fact from hearsay so that we can take any additional disciplinary action. We have already expelled three members from our chapter at the University of Florida for inappropriate behavior at the event, and we will take additional action as the investigation unfolds.  In all cases, as we hold our members accountable we will follow the disciplinary process set forth in our bylaws. We intend to turn this situation into a teachable moment for all ZBT members.  We have hundreds of alumni who have proudly served our country in the Armed Forces and many have reached out to us to offer their assistance in lending their knowledge and expertise to the education of ZBT brothers. We believe they have much to teach all of us about leadership, accountability and service, and so we will be taking them up on their offer.  We also have heard from many of our members who are eager to find a way to try to make amends and to better reflect our fraternity’s values and our gratitude for those who have served our country.  As a first step, we will use our planned half-day of service at an upcoming meeting to work with a veterans’ organization. We intend to make it an annual event. We are committed to addressing this issue in a respectful, thoughtful and disciplined way.  While we understand the anger and outrage over the incident, we ask for temperance as we work to identify those involved and to hold them accountable.  The threats to our members and staff — including many who were not involved in the incident — cannot be tolerated and we are working with law enforcement to ensure their safety.    ### April 23, 2015 Statement from Laurence Bolotin, Executive Director of Zeta Beta Tau International Regarding Panama City Beach Incident  Early this week our Fraternity was made aware of reports regarding an incident between several members of two of our chapters and veterans of the Warrior Beach Retreat during independent trips to Panama City Beach.  While the details of their actions are still under investigation, there is no doubt that some of our members engaged in ugly and unacceptable behavior. Their actions have no place in ZBT or anywhere, and they will not be tolerated. On behalf of our entire organization, I want to apologize to veterans, both those who were in Panama City Beach, and those who have felt the pain from afar, as well as to their families and all who support the Warrior Beach Retreat and had worked to make it a positive and meaningful occasion for attendees.   I am deeply saddened that the actions of our members ruined this special event and failed to show the respect our military and their families so deserve. As we continue our investigation, our chapters at the University of Florida and Emory University have suspended all activities and are fully cooperating in our investigation.  In addition, we have already expelled three members of the University of Florida chapter from our organization who we found to have been behaving inappropriately, and we will take any further action necessary as we learn more.  Our Fraternity also has issued an apology on behalf of all of our members to the Warrior Beach Retreat, the organization that was hosting the veterans to provide them and their families with the opportunity to relax and recharge.  We are honored that hundreds of our ZBT brothers have served in the military and are disgusted that certain members of our Fraternity failed to exhibit the behaviors we expect from them towards our nation’s heroes — respect, gratitude and honor.  We are committed to fully addressing the events that took place, and will be hiring an independent investigator to help us gather all of the facts.  Short-term, we are actively working with the resort, with the Presidents of both universities and with the local police to fully understand the events that took place.  In all instances, we have a zero tolerance policy towards this type of behavior and are committed to appropriately disciplining any members of our Fraternity who were involved.  We also look forward to working with our members to make amends for this disgraceful situation by identifying opportunities to serve those who have done so much to serve us.   ###