School administrators in South Windsor are investigating complaints about what some people are calling an anti-Semitic chant during a soccer game against a team from town that has a large Jewish population.
The South Windsor boys varsity soccer team traveled to West Hartford on Wednesday to play Hall High School and witnesses said people from the South Windsor side of the field were singing part of the “Dreidel Song,” which is usually sung during Hanukkah.
West Hartford has a large Jewish population.
Parents said only part of the “Dreidel Song” was chanted and they did not hear other anti-Semitic taunts for the rest of the game.
“There’s a big group of soccer fans, which are students. There were parents there and, unfortunately, no one stopped what was going on,” Kerry Rausch, of West Hartford, said.
Students were also disturbed by what happened.
“I just think it’s completely disrespectful to the Hall community,” Tyler Strickling, a senior at Hall high School, said.
NBC Connecticut reached out to South Windsor Public Schools and Supt. Dr. Kate Carter responded with a written statement:
“Thank you for bringing this serious matter to our attention. We hold our students to very high standards and a thorough investigation will be conducted immediately,” she wrote.
Liah Kaminer, a recent graduate from Hall High School, started a program at the school to help fight back against anti-Semitism and said she hopes people learn a lesson from this.
“Not even just tolerance, because tolerance is the lowest level but, you know, acceptance,” Kaminer said.
Hall High School and the West Hartford Public Schools have not returned requests for comment.
Hall ended up defeating South Windsor, 3-1.
