EEOC v. University of Pennsylvania

On January 13, 2026, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Democracy Defenders Fund, and Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin and Schiller filed a motion to intervene in EEOC v. The University of Pennsylvania on behalf of five organizations affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, which was later granted.

The federal lawsuit was filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after it issued a subpoena to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) demanding that Penn create and turn over membership rosters for the Jewish Studies Program and Jewish and Jewish-affiliated campus organizations, plus personal contact information and addresses of the Jewish members, and Penn refused. The ACLU, and others, represent five organizations representing Penn’s Jewish faculty and staff.

The intervening organizations are: The American Academy of Jewish Research (AAJR); The Jewish Law Students Association of the University of Pennsylvania Carey, Law School (JLSA); The American Association of University Professors (AAUP); The University of Pennsylvania chapter of the AAUP (AAUP-Penn); and Penn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty (PASEF). The groups seek to protect the privacy of their Jewish students, faculty, and staff by opposing the non-consensual release of Penn’s organizational membership rosters and members’ personal information based on the First Amendment right to associate confidentially.

The ACLU-PA and co-counsel argue that if Penn were to comply, the subpoena’s impact would extend beyond Penn’s Jewish community, affecting all employees by chilling numerous freedoms across campus.