You don't have to answer the government's texts: 'Are you Jewish'?
They aren't going to put this information to good use
If you receive a message like this asking whether you're Jewish, it may indeed really come from the government, but you may not be required to respond.
Last summer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an independent agency, began investigating Barnard College, a women's college affiliated with Columbia, for possible discrimination against Jewish employees. The EEOC was legally allowed to obtain Barnard employee contact information.
Trump fired some EEOC commissioners immediately after he took office, and now Trump-appointed EEOC acting chair Andrea Lucas is calling the shots.
This week, on April 21, most Barnard professors received text messages on their personal phones from the EEOC alerting them that Barnard's employment practices are under review and asking them to participate in a survey.
Professors were asked if they're "Jewish," "Israeli," and/or "practice Judaism," and if they've seen any antisemitic messages or images, "unwelcome comments, jokes or discussions," or "pressure to abandon, change or adopt a practice or religious belief."
Barnard says it did not warn its employees about the survey because it did not know the EEOC was going to send it out. The survey is optional.
“The government is weaponizing the EEOC," Barnard associate professor Debbie Becher summed up, not because the government truly wants to investigate antisemitism or discrimination but because it wants to "to destroy higher education."
Source
"Trump Administration Texted College Professors’ Personal Phones to Ask If They’re Jewish: The school later told staff it had provided the Trump administration with personal contact information for faculty members." Akela Lacy, The Intercept, April 23, 2025.
