Trump EEOC Texted College Professors' Personal Phones to Ask If They Were Jewish
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seal displayed at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 18, 2020. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Several professors at Barnard College received text messages on Monday notifying them that a federal agency was reviewing the college's employment practices, according to copies of the messages reviewed by The Intercept.
The messages, sent to several professors' personal cellphones, asked them to complete a voluntary survey about their employment.
The survey from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, asked questions including whether respondents were Jewish or Israeli; whether they had been subjected to antisemitism; and whether they were subject to 'unwelcome discussions,' graffiti or signs depicting antisemitic messages or images, 'unwelcome comments, jokes or discussions,' or 'pressure to abandon, change or adopt a practice or religious belief.'
The survey also asked whether respondents had reported any such events to the college.
In an email to faculty on Monday evening, the general counsel at Barnard, a women's college affiliated with Columbia University, said the school had received multiple reports about the EEOC texts.
'Barnard was not given advance notice of this outreach,' Barnard vice president and general counsel Serena Longley wrote in an email obtained by The Intercept. 'If you choose to respond, please know that both federal law and Barnard policy strictly prohibit any form of retaliation.'
Neither the EEOC nor Barnard immediately responded to requests for comment. Join The Conversation
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