‘Incredibly chilling’: Advocacy groups raise alarm over Trump’s demand for list of Jewish faculty at Penn

Jewish groups are raising alarms over a judge’s ruling this week that the University of Pennsylvania must turn over contact information for Jewish faculty and organizations on campus to the Trump administration. 

While the Trump administration says the information will assist in an antisemitism investigation into the university, some Jewish advocates argue the government has used their community to advance attacks and policies against higher education to restrict free speech on campuses.  

Judge Gerald Pappert, appointed by former President Obama, ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has the constitutional right to collect the contact information of Jewish faculty from the university and balked at suggestions there was a safety issue with the request.  

“Comparing the EEOC’s investigation into antisemitism at Penn with Nazi Germany is counterproductive, as counsel acknowledged by attempting to backtrack from such analogies,” Pappert wrote.   

The school has until May 1 to turn over the information, but it does not have to include an individual’s membership with specific Jewish organizations.  

Members of the Jewish community say they have lost trust in the White House’s intentions over the past year.

“At the top of everyone’s mind is that this administration, no matter what they say, has no plan to prevent or end antisemitism whatsoever. Its policies actively harm Jewish people by using our legitimate fears of antisemitism and our legitimate need for reassurances for safety as a smoke screen to advance unpopular anti-democratic policies exactly like this,” said Eli Williams-Szenes, director of advocacy and political affairs........

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