(JEWISH GROUP) Penn calls Trump administration demand for list of Jewish employees 'disturbing and unconstitutional'
The University of Pennsylvania rebuked the Trump administration in a court filing on Tuesday for what it called “disturbing and unconstitutional” requests for a list of its Jewish employees.
“Singling out organizations and individuals for such an invasion of privacy based on their actual or presumed religious affiliation would be deeply troubling under any circumstances,” the university wrote in a filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. “It is particularly chilling in light of the persecution that often has followed the compilation of lists of Jews in particular.”
The university’s response was endorsed in separate court filings by Rabbi Rick Fox, the executive director of MEOR Penn, Rabbi Gabriel F. Greenberg, the executive director of Penn Hillel, and Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, the co-executive director of Chabad at Penn.
The university’s filing on Tuesday marked the latest blow in a battle between the school and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed a federal complaint against Penn in November for allegedly refusing to comply with a subpoena that sought contact information about Jewish employees on its campus.
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