Trump administration asked for Jewish student list
Executive summary
The Trump administration, through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), issued a subpoena to the University of Pennsylvania in July 2025 demanding lists of Jewish and Jewish‑affiliated campus organizations and rosters with personal contact information — a request that Penn refused and that the EEOC later sought to enforce in federal court [1] [2]. The demand has prompted legal challenges and broad condemnation from faculty, civil‑liberties groups, and Jewish campus organizations who say the subpoena would create a centralized registry of Jews and chill civil‑rights protections and safety [3] [4] [2].
1. What the government actually asked for — the subpoena’s contents
The EEOC’s subpoena, issued July 23, 2025 according to the national AAUP, sought that Penn create and disclose a list of all Jewish and Jewish‑affiliated campus organizations, membership rosters, and personal contact information — including names, emails, phone numbers and addresses — for members and employees in the Jewish Studies Program and related groups [1] [5] [4]. Reporting by Reuters and The Guardian echoes that description, noting the subpoena’s broad sweep and its request for personal identifiers tied to religious or organizational affiliation [2] [3].
2. How Penn and campus groups responded — refusal, legal fights, and interventions
Penn has repeatedly declined to comply with the EEOC demand for non‑consensual disclosure of individuals’ private information and has resisted creating a roster based on religious identity, a refusal that led the EEOC to sue the university to enforce the subpoena in November 2025 [3] [4] [6]. Several Penn‑affiliated faculty groups, student organizations and civil‑liberties lawyers have moved to intervene or filed motions to block enforcement, arguing compelled disclosure would threaten safety and violate First Amendment associational rights [7] [4] [2].
3. Why critics say the request is uniquely fraught — history, safety, and chilling effects
Legal teams and faculty warn that “compiling and turning over to the government ‘lists of Jews’ conjures a terrifying history,” and that such a roster could chill participation in Jewish campus life and expose individuals to harm if the data were misused or leaked, a point raised by scholars and organizations including the AAUP and ACLU‑Penn [2] [8] [4]. Faculty members have emphasized that the request would require Penn to create a centralized registry of Jewish students, faculty and staff — language echoed by advocacy petitions and campus statements asserting the request’s invasive nature [3] [5].
4. The administration’s stated rationale and the broader federal enforcement posture
The EEOC’s subpoena is part of a wider federal effort to investigate and curb antisemitic harassment on campuses under Title VI and related directives following President Trump’s executive actions, and federal agencies including the Department of Education have sent letters to dozens of universities warning of enforcement actions related to protecting Jewish students [2] [9]. Public reporting frames the subpoena as tied to that enforcement agenda, though the EEOC’s public statements responding to media queries were limited in the reporting reviewed [2] [10].
5. Legal stakes, compliance by other schools, and open questions in reporting
Universities have responded unevenly: some institutions reportedly provided lists or contact information to federal investigators while others resisted, and those divergent responses factor into ongoing debates about privacy, civil‑rights enforcement and institutional obligations under federal law [11] [6]. What remains unsettled in public reporting is the EEOC’s internal justification for why the subpoena needed personally identifiable rosters rather than targeted evidence, and the degree to which any collected data has been or could be shared beyond the immediate investigation — those specifics are not detailed in the sources reviewed [2] [1].