US government survey asks Barnard College staff if they are Jewish, sparking alarm
Participation in survey, ostensibly aimed at fighting antisemitism, is voluntary, but one Jewish professor says it’s ‘chilling’ that Trump administration is making ‘lists of Jews’
When employees at Barnard College in the United States received a survey this week asking if they were Jewish, among other personal questions, many initially disregarded the message as spam from a federal government impersonator.
The questionnaire, sent by text to their personal cellphones, linked to a Microsoft form bearing the logo of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). After instructing respondents to check a box indicating whether they were Jewish or Israeli, and whether they practiced Judaism, it asked if they had experienced harassment as a result, including “unwelcome comments, jokes or discussions.”
“Your first thought is, ‘this has to be fake,’” said Nara Milanich, a Barnard history professor who is Jewish.
But on Wednesday, the recipients of the text messages, which were first reported by The Intercept, learned they were authentic.
In an email to staff, Barnard’s general counsel, Serena Longley, confirmed the survey was part of a US federal probe into whether the university had discriminated against Jewish employees. The EEOC, a federal regulator, had ordered Barnard to turn over staff contact information “so that it could offer employees the option to voluntarily participate in their investigation,” Longley wrote.
“Participation in the survey is voluntary,” she added.
On Monday, I received a text message that I assumed was spam. Today, I realized it was a very real survey from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asking me if I was Jewish – and that it was sent to everyone on Barnard College’s payroll.https://t.co/U9OQUGliFp
— Riley Callanan (@rileymcallanan) April 23, 2025
Barnard faculty estimated that well over half of the university’s staff had received the messages, which have set off anger and panic in recent days.
“That the government is putting together lists of Jews, ostensibly as part of a campaign to fight antisemitism, is really chilling,” Milanich said. “As a historian, I have to say it feels a little uncomfortable.”
Neither the EEOC nor Barnard College responded to emails seeking comment.
The surveys come as President Donald Trump’s administration has enacted funding cuts and other punitive measures against universities across the US that it claims have not done enough to quell antisemitism on campus. Barnard, a sister school of Columbia University, has been the site of frequent and at times disruptive pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Last week, Columbia University warned a smaller subset of its faculty that they may be contacted by the EEOC as part of a new investigation into antisemitism on campus. The email, reviewed by The Associated Press, indicated the federal regulator was interested in speaking with members of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, as well as the Task Force on Antisemitism.
It was not immediately clear whether those members had received the same questionnaire. Inquiries to Columbia University were not returned.
Debbie Becher, a Sociology professor at Barnard, who is also Jewish, said the surveys suggested the Trump administration was “fishing for complaints about discrimination based on Jewish status.”
“They’re not concerned about antisemitism, they’re inflaming antisemitism,” Becher added. “They’re concerned with tearing down the institutions of higher education and shutting down any speech that is pro-Palestinian or critical of Israel.”
The Trump administration is currently engaged in an escalating battle against several universities, which the White House says are not doing enough to address the issue of campus antisemitism, among other grievances.
The administration also notes that protests against the war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza that swept across US college campuses last year were rife with anti-Jewish sentiment and support for Palestinian terrorism.
Last week, Trump decided to significantly cut federal funding to a number of universities, recently freezing $2.2 billion in federal funds to Harvard, sparking a lawsuit from the school, which argues that the cuts are unlawful.
“Make no mistake: Harvard rejects antisemitism and discrimination in all of its forms and is actively making structural reforms to eradicate antisemitism on campus,” Harvard’s lawsuit stated.
Columbia capitulated to similar demands from the Trump administration last month and agreed to oversight of its Middle Eastern studies department after being threatened with a loss of $400 million in federal funds.
While the Trump administration’s moves have heartened some Jewish supporters, particularly when it comes to canceling the visas of students who have engaged in anti-Israel activism, many have also come out against them, claiming Trump is “weaponizing antisemitism” to influence academia and stymie free speech.
The Times of Israel Community.