July 24, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
The federal government has agreed to dismiss a lawsuit that asked the University of Pennsylvania to provide names and contact information of Jewish students and staff.
The federal government has dropped its lawsuit asking the University of Pennsylvania to provide the names and contact information of its Jewish students and staff.
In July 2025, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission began pressuring the school to release information on people affiliated with Jewish organizations and later filed a lawsuit after the university failed to comply. On Thursday, the EEOC withdrew its subpoena, and the school agreed to dismiss an appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
"With the support of many members of the community who have stood with Penn throughout, the University has been able to protect its employees' rights and none of the subpoenaed personal contact information was disclosed," a university spokesperson said in a statement to PhillyVoice. "Penn remains committed to fighting antisemitism and all other forms of discrimination, to ensure everyone it serves can learn, work and thrive."
The agreement, which likely puts an end to the conflict, was filed Thursday and said that each entity will pay its own legal fees. However, while the EEOC agreed to drop the information lawsuit, it is still moving forward with its antisemitism investigation, meaning the issue could be ongoing.
The Trump administration's EEOC first asked for the names as part of an investigation into antisemitism on college campuses following the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. Penn was one of many schools that the commission looked into.
The information requested includes email addresses, phone numbers and mailing addresses. Federal officials said it would help it locate people who may have experienced antisemitism.
Since then, a court ruling from March 31 ordered Penn to provide the names by May 1, but said that the university did not have to share which organizations those people were affiliated with. At the time, U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said the EEOC had the right to request the information.
"Though ineptly worded, the request had an understandable purpose — to obtain in a narrowly tailored way, as opposed to seeking information on all university employees, information on individuals in Penn's Jewish community who could have experienced or witnessed antisemitism in the workplace," Pappert wrote.
In April, Penn responded by requesting a stay as officials thought their appeal would be successful because the federal government was asking for the information without the consent of the parties involved and in spite of their objections.
Critics of the EEOC said that sharing that information would be a threat to those involved, and that creating a "registry" of certain religious groups is dangerous. In January, the American Civil Liberties Union said that it would effectively be a "user-friendly tool for discrimination."
