Federal investigators have directly contacted members of the Penn community as part of an ongoing probe into alleged antisemitism on campus — offering a window into how the government is gathering testimony and information that the University is simultaneously trying to block its access to in court.
In conversations with The Daily Pennsylvanian, several affiliates of Penn’s Jewish Studies Program reported that they received calls on their personal cell phones from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Penn is currently facing a subpoena from the agency that would require it to hand over information about Jewish students and faculty.
In a transcript of a voicemail obtained by the DP, an EEOC investigator asked one JSP member to report any incidents of antisemitism they had seen or experienced at Penn in the past three years.
“We are reaching out to folks affiliated with Penn to see if they were subjected to or witnessed antisemitism in the workplace within the past 3 years, and if so, how it was handled by the University,” the transcript read.
In a statement to the DP, the member — who requested anonymity due to fear of retribution — wrote that they “have no idea how they got my private cell phone number.”
An EEOC spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation. A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.
Director of the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and Jewish Studies professor Steven Weitzman told the DP that “the only thing that was surprising” was that the EEOC reached out to him through his personal phone number.
“I don’t release that publicly, so they must have figured out how to make some connection between who I am on the website and my own personal cell phone,” Weitzman said. “I imagine that’s not hard to do, to figure that out, but that is a little odd.”
RELATED:
Judge allows Penn affiliates to intervene in ongoing federal antisemitism lawsuit
Penn signs amicus brief in support of international students amid ongoing federal lawsuit
Weitzman said that while the EEOC’s “intentions may be good,” its methods “are just a problem.”
History professor Benjamin Nathans, who works with the Jewish Studies program, told the DP that the EEOC has contacted him three times since the summer of 2025. He said the EEOC first contacted him through his personal phone number over the summer, but that he ignored the voicemail. According to Nathans, he complied with the request after being contacted again around the start of the spring semester.
The EEOC then emailed Nathans a series of questions about his experience at Penn, including whether he had witnessed workplace antisemitism, how he was impacted by the incident, and if there was anyone else the EEOC should reach out to.
The questionnaire, which was obtained by the DP, also asked whether respondents identified as Israeli. The documented was attributed to 2008 College graduate and EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, who initiated the investigation into Penn.
Nathans said that he saw his choice to respond to the questionnaire “as an opportunity to disagree with its premise.”
“I simply hoped that they would take one person's response as a small indicator of how inappropriate the request was to Penn to deliver a list of names and contact information of Jewish faculty,” he said. “And that they would see that a Jewish faculty member who’s affiliated with the Jewish Studies program at Penn was opposed to the whole operation from the get go, and was very suspicious of the motives behind it.”
Nathans told the DP that he is “not terribly worried” about how the EEOC obtained his personal phone number.
“Anybody with a computer can go online and get a list of names of Penn faculty associated with the Jewish Studies program,” he added.
He called the decision to reach out to Jewish faculty members amid the ongoing lawsuit “amateurish … from start to finish.”
“Many people have pointed out that the optics — quite apart from the legality — but the optics of the campaign of requesting a list of Jews who work at Penn,”he said. “Either you never studied the history of the 20th century, or you’re so tone deaf that you don’t realize what a gesture like that looks and feels like to people on the receiving end.”
Communications professor Barbie Zelizer told the DP that the EEOC investigator called her to ask about the Katz Center, to which she is not affiliated.
Zelizer added that the EEOC’s request for the personal information of Jewish students and faculty was “unsupportable.”
“I don’t know one Jew who doesn't flinch at the idea that lists of Jews are being compiled,” she told the DP. “I think it’s deplorable, and I’m proud of Penn for pushing back.”
Another source familiar with the matter wrote in a statement to the DP that “even if the EEOC’s intentions are genuine and sincere,” concerns about what would happen if personal information “fell into the wrong hands” are “well-founded.”
The source emphasized that regardless of the scope of the EEOC’s investigative powers, the “context” behind the agency’s calls is “vitally important to understanding why they would be frightening to many Jewish faculty.”
“This is especially so given the administration’s irresponsible approach to data privacy and security, and its stated commitment to information sharing across agencies,” the source wrote. “The fact that the EEOC is continuing to pursue this investigation in the way it is, by trying to compel Penn to hand over lists of Jewish employees against the wishes of those employees, makes the calls especially chilling.”
The EEOC issued its subpoena to Penn in July 2025, requiring that the University submit personal contact information such as names, personal phone numbers, emails, and addresses of Jewish faculty and students. In November 2025, the EEOC sued Penn, alleging that it failed to comply with the agency’s subpoena.
In January, Penn stated in a response to the EEOC that the University remains unwilling to submit personal information without the consent of the affected parties. In the filing, the University described the EEOC’s demands as “disconcerting but also entirely unnecessary,” arguing that disclosing private details would “erode trust between Penn and its employees and the broader Jewish community at Penn.”
RELATED:
Judge allows Penn affiliates to intervene in ongoing federal antisemitism lawsuit
Penn signs amicus brief in support of international students amid ongoing federal lawsuit
Staff reporter Luke Petersen covers national politics and can be reached at petersen@thedp.com. At Penn, he studies philosophy, politics, and economics. Follow him on X @LukePetersen06.
