PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Jewish faculty and student employees at the University of Pennsylvania have asked to intervene in a lawsuit, in which the Trump administration is seeking lists of campus Jewish organizations, their members and faculty who teach Jewish studies.
In its suit against Penn, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said it wanted to identify potential witnesses in its investigation of antisemitism at the university. Professor Beth Wenger, one of the plaintiffs in the motion to intervene, said this was not the way to do it.
“We vehemently condemn the effort to collect, without their consent, the names and personal addresses and personal phone numbers of Jewish students, faculty and staff,” she said.
The EEOC subpoenas are a demand that Norm Eisen, co-founder of the Democracy Defenders Fund, called “an extraordinary abuse of power.”
“We are entering territory that should shock every single one of us,” Eisen said. “That kind of information, however purportedly benign the excuses given for it, can be put to the most dangerous misuse.”
Vic Walczack, the ACLU attorney representing the staff, said it’s also unconstitutional, citing a 70-year-old Supreme Court decision.
“Compelled disclosure of affiliation with groups engaged in advocacy may constitute as effective a restraint on freedom of association as other forms of governmental action,” he said.
For professor Steven Weitzman, the subpoenas set off alarm bells.
“The Nazi campaign depended on institutions like universities handing over information about their Jewish members to the authorities,” he said. “Given the history of government lists being weaponized against Jews, the very demand for a list of Jews is upsetting in and of itself.”
Penn said it turned over 900 pages of documents for the EEOC investigation and offered to help it contact potential witnesses, but objected to providing Jewish staff and students’ confidential information without their consent. The university said it has otherwise cooperated with the investigation and has worked to combat antisemitism and protect Jews on campus.
Asked for comment, the EEOC referred KYW Newsradio to its original release from last November on the matter.
“Unfortunately, the employer continues to refuse to identify members of its workforce who may have been subjected to this unlawful conduct,” said EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas in that statement.
“An employer’s obstruction of efforts to identify witnesses and victims undermines the EEOC’s ability to investigate harassment. In such cases, we will seek court intervention to secure full cooperation.”