A US federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration could legally require the University of Pennsylvania to provide information on Jews on campus as part of an investigation into anti-Semitism.
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opened an investigation into the university, accused of allowing discrimination against Jewish employees, in December 2023.
The federal agency then asked the university for contact information for Jewish staff members and the university refused the request, court documents note.
Jewish groups at the university also opposed the request — even though the stated goal of the investigations was to combat anti-Semitism.
“Throughout history, the forced census of Jews has been a source of profound danger, and the collection of private information about Jews echoes the same patterns that had made Jewish communities so vulnerable over the centuries,” Jewish groups in the campus in a press release that was issued last year.
The federal commission sued Penn administrators last year, saying the university refused to comply with the subpoena — leading to a legal battle.
Judge Gerald J. Pappert of the Federal District Court in Philadelphia finally issued a 32-page ruling on Tuesday in favor of the Trump administration’s argument, finding that the request made was common in the context of investigations into possible discrimination.
“The University of Pennsylvania and other groups and associations authorized by the court to intervene have significantly inflamed tensions by implicitly and sometimes explicitly comparing the EEOC’s efforts to protect Jewish employees from anti-Semitism to the Holocaust and the Nazi compilation of ‘lists of Jews,’” Pappert wrote. “Such allegations are both regrettable and inappropriate.”
While Pappert wrote that Penn was not required to provide the EEOC with information about Jewish students’ specific organizational affiliations, he ordered the school to comply with the EEOC’s subpoena by May 1.
“Even though it was poorly worded, the request has an understandable objective: to obtain, in a very targeted manner — rather than seeking information on all university employees — information on members of the community Jewish woman at Penn who may have suffered or witnessed anti-Semitism in their workplace,” Pappert added in his ruling.
The University of Pennsylvania and leaders of the Chabad, Hillel and MEOR chapters on campus did not respond to a request for comment.
Since returning to power last year, US President Donald Trump’s administration has cracked down on suspected cases of anti-Semitism on campus, particularly at elite universities like Penn. She has stepped up her efforts, filing separate federal discrimination lawsuits in recent weeks against Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angeles.
While Jewish students have reported widespread discrimination on campus since the pogrom that Hamas committed against Israel on October 7, 2023, the administration’s aggressive approach has alarmed many Jews – who fear these tactics could undermine civil protections for United States who helped Jews and other minorities.
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