Federal agency texts Columbia University and Barnard College employees a survey asking if they are Jewish

Staff members at Columbia University and Barnard College in New York City said they were taken aback earlier this week after receiving text messages on their personal devices linking to a survey which asked, in part, if they were Jewish or Israeli. The survey on Monday came from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and outlined that it was part of a federal investigation into workplace practices at the schools. The second question on the survey asks respondents to check boxes for all that apply, inquiring if they are Jewish, Israeli, have Jewish/Israeli ancestry or practice Judaism. Debbie Becher, an associate sociology professor at Barnard, said she was “shocked” to receive the text. “At first, I thought it was spam,” Becher, who is Jewish, told CNN. “I was alarmed that the government would contact me in this way about such a serious matter.” In a text message sent to one Barnard College staff member seen by CNN, the employee’s name appears at the top of the message, which encouraged recipients to contact an email address from the EEOC if they want to confirm the text’s authenticity, the message shows. Columbia had sent out an email to staff and faculty on April 15 stating it had received a subpoena from the EEOC “in connection with an investigation into alleged harassment of Jewish employees at the University from October 7, 2023, to the present.” The school said it was complying with the government’s request for personal telephone numbers and mailing addresses for members of its staff. Barnard, a college affiliated with Columbia, however, sent no forewarning to its community, according to several staff members CNN spoke with. About two hours after the texts went out, Serena Longley, the college’s vice president and general counsel, sent an email Monday to faculty and staff stating, “Barnard was not given advance notice of this outreach.” Two days later, the school explained in another email to employees it was aware of access to personal contact information being granted to the EEOC, but maintained it did not know the survey was being sent out. Barnard said the EEOC’s commissioner, Andrea Lucas, initiated an investigation last summer against the college concerning whether it “discriminated against Jewish employees on the basis of their national origin, religion, and/or race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” according to the email. The college told its employees Wednesday it has been “robustly defending” itself against the inquiry, but said the EEOC was legally entitled to gain access to contact information for Barnard’s employees so the commission “could offer employees the option to voluntarily participate in their investigation,” the email stated. “Barnard complied with this lawful request,” the college said in the email. The surveys come as the Trump administration takes aim at higher education institutions in the US in an effort the administration says is to fight antisemitism and address what President Donald Trump has called “Hamas sympathizers” on college campuses. Several Barnard staff members told CNN the college has their personal contact information in case of emergency only. “The cellphone belongs to me, it doesn’t belong to Barnard,” said Nara Milanich, chair of the school’s history department. Milanich, who is Jewish, said she “didn’t even know it was legal” for the school to turn her information over. Another staff member who received the text, and who wished to remain anonymous out of concern for their job, expressed fears it might not just have been their own information that was shared with the government. “It would be one thing if they gave them my office number, but they gave them my cellphone number, and who knows what else? I’m concerned that they may have given the numbers of my emergency contacts and my loved ones, who have nothing to do with any of this. I’m worried if they gave other personal identifying information about me,” the staff member said. “There’s a lot that I don’t know and that I am very disheartened by.” The survey that was sent to employees at both schools recommended that respondents not reply to it during work hours or on company-supplied equipment. Still, the perceived breach of privacy has rattled the recipients. The survey also asked for specific information about identifying when the respondents began working for the school, and who their supervisors are. “Barnard seems perfectly willing to do anything that it can to appease an administration that is interested in inserting itself and taking over our college and telling us who to teach and how,” Becher said. The administration has been vocal about being against pro-Palestinian student protests that have broken out on various college campuses – including Columbia – since the Israel-Hamas war began. Trump signed an executive order highlighting measures to combat antisemitism on campuses during his second week in office. And last month, Columbia was listed as one of 60 universities under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights warning them of “potential enforcement actions” if they failed to protect Jewish students on their campuses under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The EEOC responded to CNN’s request for comment on the surveys, stating in an email, “Per federal law, we cannot comment on investigations, nor can we confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.” Columbia declined to comment on a pending investigation, a university spokesperson told CNN. “I think there’s a troubling dynamic in which administrators and faculty, who should be on the same side of this whole challenging moment that we are in, are not working together,” says Milanich. “We should be working together to defend our institution and defend the values of our college, but this feels like more evidence for that not happening as it should.” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Rene Marsh, Karina Tsui and Elizabeth Wolfe contributed to this report.