Babson College to apologize to Brandeis for slurs

Babson College to apologize to Brandeis for slurs

WELLESLEY, Mass. (AP) — Babson College plans to offer a formal apology for anti-Semitic actions taken by students 35 years ago before and during a crucial soccer game with Brandeis University.

The Boston Globe reports that Babson President Len Schlesinger will apologize today. He’ll also announce a partnership with the Anti-Defamation League on a program to eliminate bigotry.

The ADL says that in November 1978, several players at Babson, a private business school based in the Boston suburb of Wellesley, hung a sign in the gym that read “Happy Holocaust” during the game with Brandeis, a school in nearby Waltham with a large Jewish population.

The ADL says Babson players also wore swastikas during the final practice before the game and yelled “Holocaust!” and other anti-Semitic slurs to boost morale.

ADL New England regional director Robert Trestan says the “insulting and ignorant actions left a bitter taste in the mouths of everyone at Brandeis.”