“As a Jewish organization on campus, we are looked down on,” said Samuel Shapiro, a 21-year-old English and political sciences major and president of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEΠ) at SF State. He, along with AEΠ want to not only help out in their community but to also help improve their image on campus. They feel that they, along with other Jewish groups on campus, are seen in a negative light.

AEΠ and San Francisco Hillel served as lead sponsors of the Social Justice Fair held in Malcolm X Plaza Monday afternoon. Volunteers were on hand to give information to passing students about all the opportunities available to them to help out in their community.

In attendance at the event were Shalom-bayit (a Jewish group against domestic violence), Jewish family and child services, the Peace Corps, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Jimena (Jewish Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa), the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, SF Food Bank, AIDS Walk, College Republicans and the College Democrats.

“We wanted to create a fair of non-profit organizations to give students options,” said Alon Shaler, the Executive Director of San Francisco Hillel, an international Jewish organization.

“We want to promote social awareness in San Francisco,” said Steven Soloman, a 20-year-old hospitality management major and member of AEΠ, “We really just want to help out our community,” he said.

According to Shapiro, every semester AEΠ, which is a national organization, has an obligation to do at least one “philanthropy” event. They used this opportunity to get other students involved and tackle the image problem they feel they have on campus.

“People have a negative stigma about us,” Shapiro said, “They think we are blatantly racist,” for supporting Israel. “There are left-leaning, socially-conscious Jews.”

They feel the attention given to them about the Palestinian mural controversy has cast them in a negative light.

They are not however, using the event solely to improve their image. Rather, this event is about helping out their community and getting other people involved.

“The Jewish community cares about helping others,” said Brendon Nemeth, a 21-year-old cinema major and member of the fraternity.

“[AEΠ] is a place for Jewish college students to evolve in a group organization as people,” said Phil Haggardy, an 18-year-old philosophy and religion major.

“[The goal of the event] was to expose social justice programs that are accessible to the community,” said Hillarie Tuman, a volunteer from Hillel.

Due to rain, some tables at the event closed down early. More information is available, however by contacting SF Hillel at (415) 333-4922, or by contacting AEΠ at their website aepisf.com.