No coincidence?

First, someone wrote an anti-Jewish slur on Keenan Davis's whiteboard. Then, less than 24 hours later an Israeli flag was stolen from the Jewish student's door at the University of Virginia.

Now, as University of Virginia police investigate, Davis contends the two weekend incidents were connected to allegations of hazing at a fraternity earlier this month.

According to court records, a 19-year-old pledge was hospitalized March 1 after he ate a meal of dog food, matzo balls, gefilte fish and soy sauce as part of a fraternity tradition. In an open letter, Davis writes that the juxtaposition of dog food to traditional Jewish fare isn't a coincidence.

"In my four years here, I have never felt as threatened as I do now," Davis wrote. "I am ashamed to admit that the thought crossed my mind of taking down the mezuzah that adorns my doorpost. I will not. I will not stop wearing my yarmulke or my tzitzit. I will not stop walking to services on the Sabbath. In the face of injury and offense, the Jewish response is to bring light into the world, to react with positivity."

The Daily Progress reports that court records show that Zeta Psi fraternity members took a 19-year-old freshman fraternity pledge to the Martha Jefferson Hospital emergency room at 2:30 a.m after he began seizing and foaming at the mouth. He was later transferred to the intensive care unit at the U.Va. Medical Center. John Paul Boldrick was hospitalized for four days.

Affidavits filed by police in a request for search warrants say the pledge was treated for an electrolyte imbalance caused by the high sodium content of the 12 to 18 ounces of soy sauce he consumed. A Zeta Psi member said the meal is a tradition for pledges.

The soy sauce incident is not the first time that a University of Virginia fraternity has been investigated for possible hazing. In 2003, a 19-year-old student said he and other pledges at the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity were doused with vinegar and urine and endured other violent and disgusting hazing rituals as part of a pledge ritual. Prosecutors ultimately declined to press charges.

Zeta Psi had been investigated the previous year on charges of disorderly conduct after pictures surfaced of fraternity members in blackface at a Halloween party. The university's Inter-Fraternity Council found the fraternity not guilty, citing that their actions fell under constitutionally protected free speech.

In April 2006, the IFC recommended the IFC Presidents' Council remove recognition of the fraternity after the group held an unsanctioned rush event. The Council did not follow the recommendation.

The university declined to comment specifically on the incident, citing the police investigation. "While it has not yet been determined whether this incident was related to hazing, hazing is illegal in the state of Virginia and considered a serious criminal offense, as well as a violation of university policy," U.Va. spokeswoman Carol Wood wrote in an e-mail. "If found guilty, students are subject to criminal penalties and also university judiciary processes that impose separate penalties, up to and including expulsion from the university."

University officials could bring a case before the school's judiciary committee even if the police investigation doesn't turn up evidence of a criminal violation. According to the University of Virginia website, Zeta Psi currently has 35 active members.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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