The subpoena comes as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency, investigates a “pattern or practice” of harassment of Jews at the Ivy League school. It requested, among other things, lists of school groups and organizations “related to the Jewish religion,” including personal contact information for Penn employees in those groups.
“Though ineptly worded, the request had an understandable purpose—to obtain in a narrowly tailored way, as opposed to seeking information on all university employees, information on individuals in Penn’s Jewish community who could have experienced or witnessed antisemitism in the workplace,” U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert wrote Tuesday. “Penn resisted the subpoena on various grounds and when the parties could not resolve their differences, the EEOC filed this subpoena enforcement action.”
The decision is largely a win for the Trump administration, though Pappert did say Penn “need neither reveal any employee’s affiliation with a specific Jewish-related organization, nor provide information regarding MEOR, Penn Hillel and the Chabad Lubavitch House,” referencing some notable organizations for Jewish life on campus.
Read more at NBC News.
