The U.S. Wants to Know: Are You Jewish?

On Monday evening, employees at Barnard College received a text message from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The message included a link to a questionnaire that directly asked whether the recipient was Jewish or Israeli—and whether they had experienced harassment.

Barnard later confirmed the message was legitimate and that the university itself had provided employees’ contact information to the EEOC.

According to the university’s chief legal officer, participation is voluntary, but that hasn’t reassured staff.

“A Little Frightening”

Sociology professor Debbie Becher, who is Jewish herself, described the situation to the New York Times as “a little frightening that the federal government wants to know who the Jews are—via text message and a Microsoft Office form.”

The Trump administration had placed a focus on antisemitism on college campuses, but many view this method as a step too far.

History professor Nara Milanich said, “We’ve seen this movie before, and it ends with yellow stars.”

Even if the aim is to combat discrimination, the method raises a question: Is this protection—or registration?

Vores team kan have anvendt AI til at assistere i skabelsen af dette indhold, som er gennemgået af redaktørerne.