Administration, Penn Agree About List of Jewish Employees

The federal government's push for a list of Jewish staffers at the University of Pennsylvania has been dropped. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed not to enforce a subpoena seeking names and contact information for employees linked to Jewish studies and Jewish-affiliated groups, ending more than a year of legal wrangling with the school. In exchange, Penn will move to dismiss its lawsuit challenging the demand, according to court filings made public Thursday, Politico reports. The EEOC did not give a reason for its switch, per the New York Times.

Penn said it never turned over any of the requested personal data and cast the outcome as a win for employee privacy, while stressing it will still combat antisemitism and other discrimination. The EEOC had argued it needed the information to probe reputed antisemitic incidents after the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. A federal judge earlier criticized Penn for likening the subpoena to Nazi-era lists of Jews, calling those comparisons "unfortunate and inappropriate," even as he labeled the government's request "ineptly worded." The investigation began in December 2023, per the Times, but picked up steam when President Trump retook office.