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Time of India
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Why did US government ask Barnard College staff if they were Jewish
Dozens of current and former Barnard College employees received unexpected text messages on Monday evening asking if they are Jewish or Israeli, according to a New York Times report — a development that has sparked widespread concern, confusion, and troubling comparisons to historical episodes of persecution. The messages, sent to personal mobile phones, claimed to be from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and linked to a survey related to an ongoing federal investigation into alleged discrimination against Jewish employees at Barnard. The college confirmed on Wednesday that the messages were authentic and part of an EEOC probe launched last summer. Barnard's general counsel, Serena Longley, told faculty via email that the college had handed over employee contact information to the EEOC to allow them to participate in the investigation. 'Participation in the survey is voluntary,' she wrote. The survey contained direct questions about experiences of antisemitism and anti-Israeli sentiment in the workplace, including whether staff had faced 'unwelcome comments, jokes or discussions,' or 'antisemitic or anti-Israeli protests' that disrupted their working environment. The method of outreach alarmed many on campus. 'Clearly, it made everyone scared,' said Debbie Becher, a Jewish professor of sociology. 'I've been getting text messages from my former graduate students and other faculty members — I still am — asking what they should do.' Becher called the government's tactics 'a bit terrifying,' saying, 'The federal government wants to know who the Jews are through some text message and Microsoft Office form.' Nara Milanich, a history professor at Barnard, drew a chilling parallel to fascist regimes. 'We've seen this movie before, and it ends with yellow stars,' she said, recalling research on 1930s Italy. She criticised the federal government's approach as 'fishing' for evidence. 'Evidently, they don't have sufficient people to file lawsuits, so they have to go shake the trees to find people?' The Trump administration has been targeting elite universities, accusing them of tolerating antisemitism. Columbia University , with which Barnard is affiliated, has seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus and is currently facing the withholding of over $400 million in federal research funding until it addresses concerns about antisemitism. Federal immigration officials have also detained some pro-Palestinian protesters for possible deportation. While Barnard officials have not publicly commented, the college has reportedly been 'robustly defending' itself against the EEOC inquiry. The agency has not responded to media requests. Longley assured faculty that Barnard would, in future, provide advance notice before disclosing personal information to government agencies — unless legally barred from doing so.
New York Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
U.S. Texts Barnard Employees and Asks if They Are Jewish
The personal cellphones of dozens of current and former Barnard College employees pinged Monday evening with a text message that looked, at first, like a scam. The text said it was from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, part of a review of the employment practices of Barnard. A link led to a survey that asked respondents if they were Jewish or Israeli, and if they had been subjected to harassment. After faculty members asked Barnard administrators about the text, the college confirmed to them on Wednesday that the messages were authentic — part of a federal investigation into discrimination against Jewish employees that started last summer. Serena Longley, Barnard's general counsel, acknowledged in an email to the faculty members that Barnard had provided the commission with the personal contact information of staff members to give them the opportunity to participate. 'Participation in the survey is voluntary,' she wrote. The texts, which faculty members said appeared to have gone to nearly all Barnard staff members, appear to be part of an aggressive new tactic by the Trump administration to collect reports of alleged antisemitism at Barnard, a women's college affiliated with Columbia University that has come under heavy criticism for pro-Palestinian demonstrations on its campus. The Trump administration has been taking on elite universities over what is says is a systemic problem with antisemitism, but critics of the administration say the confrontation actually represents a broader attack on academic and institutional freedom. The administration has withheld more than $400 million in federal research funding from Columbia until it does more to fight antisemitism, and immigration authorities arrested several pro-Palestinian demonstrators in an attempt to deport them. The questions in the survey for employees were pointed. 'While working at Barnard College, were you subjected to any of the following because you practice Judaism, have Jewish ancestry, are Israeli, and/or are associated with an individual(s) who is Jewish and/or Israeli?' read question No. 9. Faculty and staff members were asked to check all that apply from a list of 10 options that included 'unwelcome comments, jokes or discussions' and 'antisemitic or anti-Israeli protests, gatherings or demonstrations that made you feel threatened, harassed or were otherwise disruptive to your working environment.' Debbie Becher, a Barnard sociology professor who is Jewish, said that the survey disturbed her in several ways. As a Jew, she said she found it 'a bit terrifying' that the federal government 'wants to know who the Jews are through some text message and Microsoft Office form.' The last two days, she said, had been filled with group chats among professors, teaching assistants and others who received the texts and who first wondered if they were real. They then expressed dismay that Barnard did not tell them that the university was sharing their personal cellphone numbers with the government. 'Clearly, it made everyone scared,' Dr. Becher said. 'I've been getting text messages from my former graduate students and other faculty members — I still am — asking what they should do.' Nara Milanich, a Barnard history professor, said it reminded her of her research into 1930s Italy, when lists of Jews were put together by the local government. 'We've seen this movie before, and it ends with yellow stars,' she said. It also troubled her that the government appeared to be 'fishing' for reports of antisemitism. 'Evidently, they don't have sufficient people to file lawsuits, so they have to go shake the trees to find people?' she said. The text messages were first reported by The Intercept. Robin Levine, a Barnard spokeswoman, said the school had no official comment and referred comments to the E.E.O.C. She did not dispute the authenticity of the texts or the email from Ms. Longley. The commission, a federal civil rights agency responsible for enforcing laws that make it illegal to discriminate against employees because of the person's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetic information, did not immediately return a request for comment. In her email note to faculty, Ms. Longley said that Barnard had been 'robustly defending the college' against the commission's inquiry, but that the E.E.O.C. was legally entitled to obtain the contact information of Barnard employees so that it could offer them the opportunity to participate in the agency's investigation. Going forward, she wrote, the school would provide advance notice when it was required to hand over personal information as part of an investigation or litigation, unless a court order prohibited the university from doing so.
The Intercept
23-04-2025
- The Intercept
Trump EEOC Texted College Professors' Personal Phones to Ask If They Were Jewish
Support Us © THE INTERCEPT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 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
