US judge says Trump administration can demand list of Jews at University of Pennsylvania

A federal judge rules that the Trump administration can legally demand that the University of Pennsylvania turn over information about Jews on the campus as part of an antisemitism probe.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began investigating the university in December 2023 for allegedly allowing discrimination against Jewish employees.

The federal agency asked the university for the contact information of Jewish staffers and the university refused to comply, court filings said.

Jewish groups at the university also pushed back against the demand, despite the investigation’s stated goal of combating antisemitism.

“Across history, the compelled cataloging of Jews has been a source of profound danger, and the collection of Jews’ private information carries echoes of the very patterns that made Jewish communities vulnerable for centuries,” Jewish campus groups said in a statement last year.

The federal commission sued Penn’s trustees last year, claiming that the university had refused to comply with the subpoena, leading to a legal battle.

Judge Gerald J. Pappert of Philadelphia’s Federal District Court rules in favor of the Trump administration’s claim that the request is normal for discrimination probes.

Pappert rules that the university has until May 1 to comply with the subpoena.